Rate My Professor Lee Newman

Lee Newman, MD, MA, is a Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Environmental and Occupational Health and Epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, part of the University of Colorado at Denver. He holds appointments in the Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine at the CU School of Medicine and serves as founding Director of the Center for Health, Work & Environment and the Mountain and Plains Education and Research Center, both funded by the CDC/NIOSH. His academic background includes a BA from Amherst College in 1975, an MA in Social Psychology from Cornell University in 1977, an MD from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1980, an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Emory University in 1983, and a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado in 1987. A founding faculty member of the Colorado School of Public Health, he co-founded Health Links™ and the ColoradoSPH Certificate in Total Worker Health® and consults for government agencies, businesses, labor groups, and communities while teaching and mentoring students and junior faculty.

Dr. Newman's research focuses on interventions to mitigate heat stress impacts on worker health and safety, etiology and prevention of acute and chronic kidney disease in agricultural workers, Total Worker Health applied to small enterprises and internationally, prevention of occupational injuries and illnesses, immunotoxicology especially immune effects of metals like beryllium, granulomatous lung disorders including chronic beryllium disease and sarcoidosis, biomarker development, medical surveillance in workplaces, and health informatics. His work addresses health effects of heat stress, air pollutants, and working conditions across the U.S., Mexico, and Latin America, supported by the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Energy, and CDC/NIOSH. He has authored over 260 scientific papers and more than 150 books, chapters, and monographs, including "Evaluating the effects of heat strain and air pollution on kidney health" (2026, Environ Int), "A Systems-Based Approach for the Prevention of Heat-Associated Kidney Disease in Latin American Workers" (2025, Ann Glob Health), "A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of Total Worker Health® Training Transfer in México" (2026, J Occup Environ Med), and "Airborne particulate matter exposure in male sugarcane workers at risk for chronic kidney disease in Guatemala" (2025, Ann Work Expo Health). Awards include the 2019 University of Colorado Distinguished Professor designation, the highest faculty honor; 2016 and 2012 Chancellor’s Awards for Teaching Excellence; 2015 CDC/NIOSH Diversity Award; Delta Omega Honorary Society; and fellowships in the Collegium Ramazzini, American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and American College of Chest Physicians.