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Robert K. McLellan, MD, MPH

Title(s)
Emeritus Professor of Medicine
Emeritus Professor of Community and Family Medicine
Emeritus Professor of The Dartmouth Institute

Additional Titles/Positions/Affiliations
Faculty Advisory Board, Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society

Department(s)
Medicine
Community and Family Medicine
The Dartmouth Institute

Education
Residency
University of Rochester, Family Medicine
Yale Medical School, MD 1978
Yale Public Health School, 1978
Yale College, BA 1973

Programs
The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice

Contact Information

The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice
74 College Street
Vail Building, Room 715
Hanover NH 03755

Office: 603-667-5851
Email: Robert.K.McLellan@dartmouth.edu


Professional Interests

Climate and Health, Health and Productivity Management, Clinical Toxicology, Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders, Hazard Identification, Evaluation, and Control, Building Associated Diseases, Disability Management, Functional Restoration, Complex Fitness for Duty Examinations, Substance Abuse Detection, Disaster Preparedness and Response

Grant Information

Optimizing the Health of a Pre-Diabetic Population; Centers for Disease Control
Climate Informed Pediatric Care

Courses Taught

PH 151 Environmental Health Sciences and Policy
PH 143 Climate and Health:

Biography

As an Active Emeritus professor, Robert K. McLellan, MD, MPH, teaches at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. He taught a course on Environmental Health Sciences and Policy for 20 years and launched an inaugural course on Climate and Health in 2023.
He retired as Chief of the Section of Occupational and Environmental Medicine of Dartmouth-Hitchcock, where he was also the Medical Director of Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s Live Well/Work Well program, a comprehensive, integrated health promotion, disease management, and health protection program for Dartmouth-Hitchcock employees and their families. He has extensive experience as an occupational and environmental medical consultant in various economic sectors and maintained a clinical practice in occupational and environmental medicine for nearly 40 years. As a preventive medicine specialist trained in population health management and individual clinical care, his work encompasses designing and deploying various services, programs, and environmental interventions to improve workers' and the general community's health, safety, and well-being.
Dr. McLellan’s work at a national and regional level focuses on the opportunities to understand and manage the relationship between work, the environment, and health. He co-chairs the National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative on Business Engagement in Building Healthy Communities to further this work. He serves on the New Hampshire Governor’s Advisory Council for the Recovery Friendly Workplace, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine’s Council on Government Affairs, the New Hampshire Health Care Workers for Climate Action Advisory Board, and the Faculty Advisory Board of the Irving Institute for Energy and Society. He is a past president of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and the New England College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Dr. McLellan has written extensively and lectured nationwide and internationally on various occupational and environmental medicine issues. He has been the Principal Investigator of several occupational and environmental medicine grants and was a co-recipient of the National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety’s NORA (National Occupational Research Agenda) award for innovative research. He is the recipient of numerous other awards, including The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine’s Lifetime Achievement award for “special contributions to the specialty of occupational and environmental medicine,” the NIOSH Total Worker Health® Founder’s Award for “exceptional leadership scholarship, and steadfastness in advancing the NIOSH Total Worker Health Program®,” the Harriet Hardy Award from the New England College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine “for a physician who exemplifies the highest ideals of occupational and environmental medicine practice,” New Hampshire Public Health Association’s Roger Fossum award “for dedicated commitment and leadership in environmental and public health,” and a Commendation from the Governor of New Hampshire for his commitment to the community and the state.
McLellan earned a BA from Yale College, an MD from Yale Medical School, and an MPH from the Yale School of Public Health.
Current Support
July 2023 – Present
Climate Informed Pediatric Care Role: Co-PI at 1% FTE Funding Amount: $50 000


Selected Publications

 

Harnessing Occupational and Environmental Medicine Expertise to Transform Medical Care: A Catalyst for Mitigating the Human Health Impacts of Climate Change.
McLellan RK, Berenji M, Egbuji A, Fagan K, Nabeel I, Perkison WB, Rabinowitz P, Santiago R, Sirinara P, Stoneman E, Thompson H, ACOEM Work Group on Climate Change Education
J Occup Environ Med. 2025 Oct 1;67(10):e743-e758. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000003523. Epub 2025 Aug 11.
PMID: 40788780

Addressing Environmental Health: Clinician Training and Practice of Environmental Medicine-ACOEM Guidance Statement.
Berenji M, Baker B, Saberi P, McLellan RK, Wendland D, Trangle KL, Spaeth KR, Green-McKenzie J, Fagan KM
J Occup Environ Med. 2024 Dec 1;66(12):e668-e673. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000003246. Epub 2024 Oct 2.
PMID: 39378588

Occupational Electronic Health Records: Recommendations for the Design and Implementation of Information Systems in Occupational and Environmental Medicine Practice-ACOEM Guidance Statement.
Fazen LE, Martin BE 4th, Isakari M, Kowalski-McGraw M, McLellan RK, Ahsan R, Berenji M
J Occup Environ Med. 2024 Nov 1;66(11):e614-e627. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000003236. Epub 2024 Sep 26.
PMID: 39378367

Electronic Health Records and Occupational Data: A Call for Promoting Interoperability.
Kowalski-Mcgraw M, McLellan RK, Berenji M, Saito K, Green-McKenzie J, Thompson H, Hudson TW 3rd
J Occup Environ Med. 2023 Jul 1;65(7):e520-e526. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000002888. Epub 2023 May 26.
PMID: 37235451

A Worksite Self-management Program for Workers with Chronic Health Conditions Improves Worker Engagement and Retention, but not Workplace Function.
Shaw WS, McLellan RK, Besen E, Namazi S, Nicholas MK, Dugan AG, Tveito TH
J Occup Rehabil. 2022 Mar;32(1):77-86. doi: 10.1007/s10926-021-09983-6. Epub 2021 May 13.
PMID: 33983524

Safely Returning America to Work Part II: Industry-Specific Guidance.
Taylor TK, Das R, Mueller KL, Pransky GS, Harber P, McLellan RK, Hartenbaum NP, Behrman AJ, Roy DR, Blink RC
J Occup Environ Med. 2021 Jun 1;63(6):e373-e391. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000002206.
PMID: 33782338

Medical qualification for respirator use: An essential component of respiratory protection.
McLellan RK
Am J Ind Med. 2020 Oct;63(10):949-950. doi: 10.1002/ajim.23162. Epub 2020 Jul 29.
PMID: 32729163

Using Electronic Health Records and Clinical Decision Support to Provide Return-to-Work Guidance for Primary Care Practitioners for Patients With Low Back Pain.
McLellan RK, Haas NS, Kownacki RP, Pransky GS, Talmage JB, Dreger M
J Occup Environ Med. 2017 Nov;59(11):e240-e244. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000001180.
PMID: 29023338

Interaction of Health Care Worker Health and Safety and Patient Health and Safety in the US Health Care System: Recommendations From the 2016 Summit.
Loeppke R, Boldrighini J, Bowe J, Braun B, Eggins E, Eisenberg BS, Grundy P, Hohn T, Hudson TW, Kannas J Jr, Kapp EA, Konicki D, Larson P, McCutcheon S, McLellan RK, Ording J, Perkins C, Russi M, Stutts C, Yarbrough M
J Occup Environ Med. 2017 Aug;59(8):803-813. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000001100.
PMID: 28796664

Work, Health, And Worker Well-Being: Roles And Opportunities For Employers.
McLellan RK
Health Aff (Millwood). 2017 Feb 1;36(2):206-213. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2016.1150.
PMID: 28167707

View more publications on PubMed