In October 2025, Dr. Nick Newman, Associate Director of Region 5 PEHSU, was awarded the Elizabeth Spencer Ruppert, MD, FAAP Outstanding Pediatrician of the Year Award. Ohio AAP (Academy of American Pediatrics) honored Dr. Newman’s “outstanding commitment to improving the health and safety of Ohio’s children” (Ohio AAP). In addition to the Satellite Region 5 PEHSU, Dr. Newman leads the Pediatric Environmental Health and Lead Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
In their announcement, Ohio AAP highlights his work on childhood asthma and lead exposure. They shared that “Dr. Newman is recognized for his leadership in environmental health, including his work to reduce asthma triggers and prevent lead exposure in Ohio communities. His efforts to improve child health outcomes through prevention and education set a high standard for pediatric leadership statewide” (Ohio AAP).
Dr. Newman’s work in childhood asthma includes the Cincinnati-based home asthma environmental interventions program. Since 2022, Nick has partnered with multiple hospital divisions to connect families with home asthma environmental interventions. Hospital community health workers received training from PEHSU on environmental asthma triggers and evidence-based home interventions. With additional support from the Ohio Department of Health, a community health worker made home visits to 20 families with children who have had a recent asthma exacerbation. Families receive materials for the home including dust covers, safer cleaning supplies, and in some cases air filters, in addition to helping them get connected with community services for more long-term support and resources. As someone who missed school because of his childhood asthma, Dr. Newman has come full circle and built upon his lived experience, utilizing his clinical training to help mitigate environmental health risks to children with asthma.
“His efforts to improve child health outcomes through prevention and education set a high standard for pediatric leadership statewide.”
Ohio AAP
In his work with PEHSU, Dr. Newman provides consultations to health professionals, families and communities on environmental health hazards to children. At the Pediatric Environmental Health and Lead Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and PEHSU, Dr. Newman also supports families affected by lead exposure, through both prevention (identifying environmental triggers) and treatment. An expert in the field, Dr. Newman is an author on numerous publications on topics including lead and air quality.
Recently, he presented at the BREATHE (Bridging Research, Equity, and Asthma Through Healthy Environments) Summit, co-sponsored by Cincinnati Children’s and the City of Cincinnati. He discussed a community engagement project where he helped a community member measure air pollution from a point source in her neighborhood and then advocate for improvement in air quality, which eventually happened and is highlighted here: Excessive Smoke from a Neighborhood Restaurant Highlights Gaps in Air Pollution Enforcement: Citizen Science Observational Study. He also presented at the AAP 2025 National Conference and Exhibition on the “Role of the Pediatrician in Climate Change Mitigation: Simple Steps to Green Your Practice” and “Teaching Medical Students and Pediatricians about Climate and Health: Evaluation of an Activity.” The later described a PEHSU-funded project from 2023 where he taught both first year medical students and pediatricians in practice about managing the effects of extreme weather (extreme heat, flooding, poor air quality) on their patients.
Within the PEHSU network, Dr. Newman has provided invaluable leadership among the regions, in collaboration with the National Program Office and federal partners.
About Dr. Nick Newman
Nick Newman, DO, MS, FAAP DO, MS, Associate Director, is the medical director of the Pediatric Environmental Health and Lead Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and an associate professor of pediatrics and environmental & public health sciences at the University of Cincinnati. As a pediatric environmental health doctor, he helps families identify, reduce, and treat harmful exposures that affect their child’s health. His research focuses on how common environmental exposures, like air pollution, lead, flame retardants, and forever chemical exposure, influence growth, neurodevelopment, and behavior in children.
