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Wonjin Lee

Korea University · Medicine

About the Lab

Professor Wonjin Lee's research lab focuses on environmental and occupational health, particularly the epidemiological investigation of pesticide exposure and its association with cancer and suicide mortality. The lab conducts large-scale prospective cohort studies, such as the Agricultural Health Study, to examine the long-term health impacts of agricultural chemicals like chlorpyrifos, alachlor, and paraquat. Research also extends to public health policy evaluation, including the impact of pesticide bans on suicide rates. The lab integrates statistical modeling and epidemiological methods to assess exposure-response relationships and inform regulatory decisions.

pesticide exposurecancer incidencesuicide mortalityepidemiological studiespublic health policy

Research Overview

Papers
397
Total Citations
7,100
Papers (5y)
63
Primary Field
Medicine

Research Output Trend

Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.

Publications per year (5y)
63total
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Citations per year (5y)
147total
20222023202420252026

Selected Papers

15
1
Article|191 citations·2004
Cancer Incidence Among Pesticide Applicators Exposed to Chlorpyrifos in the Agricultural Health Study
Won Jin Lee, A Blair, Jane A. Hoppin, J. H. Lubin, Jennifer A. Rusiecki, Dale P. Sandler, Mustafa Dosemeci, Michael C.R. Alavanja
SJR Q1JNCI Journal of the National Cancer InstituteOA

BACKGROUND: Chlorpyrifos is one of the most widely used insecticides in the United States. We evaluated the incidence of cancer among pesticide applicators exposed to chlorpyrifos in the Agricultural Health Study, a prospective cohort study of licensed pesticide applicators in Iowa and North Carolina. METHODS: A total of 54,383 pesticide applicators were included in this analysis. Detailed information on pesticide exposure and lifestyle factors was obtained from self-administered questionnaires

Plant ScienceAgricultural and Biological Sciences
2
Article|168 citations·2004
Cancer Incidence among Pesticide Applicators Exposed to Alachlor in the Agricultural Health Study
Won Jin Lee
SJR Q1American Journal of EpidemiologyOA

The authors evaluated the incidence of cancer among pesticide applicators with exposure to alachlor in the Agricultural Health Study, a prospective cohort study of licensed pesticide applicators in Iowa and North Carolina. A total of 49,980 pesticide applicators are included in this analysis; 26,510 applicators (53%) reported use of alachlor on the enrollment questionnaire. Detailed pesticide exposure and other information were obtained from a self-administered questionnaire completed at the tim

Plant ScienceAgricultural and Biological Sciences
3
Article|152 citations·2015
Impact of paraquat regulation on suicide in South Korea
Eun Shil, Shu‐Sen Chang, David Gunnell, Michael Eddleston, Young‐Ho Khang, Won Jin Lee
SJR Q1International Journal of EpidemiologyOA

BACKGROUND: Ingestion of pesticides (mainly paraquat) accounted for one-fifth of suicides in South Korea in 2006-10. We investigated the effect on suicide mortality of regulatory action, culminating in a ban on paraquat in South Korea in 2011-12. METHODS: We calculated age-standardized method-specific suicide mortality rates among people aged ≥15 in South Korea (1983-2013) using registered death data. Negative binomial regression was used to estimate changes in the rate and number of pesticide s

SurgeryMedicine
4
Article|145 citations·2007
Pesticide use and colorectal cancer risk in the agricultural health study
Won Jin Lee, Dale P. Sandler, Aaron Blair, Claudine Samanic, Amanda J. Cross, Michael C.R. Alavanja
SJR Q1International Journal of CancerOA

We investigated the relationship between agricultural pesticides and colorectal cancer incidence in the Agricultural Health Study. A total of 56,813 pesticide applicators with no prior history of colorectal cancer were included in this analysis. Detailed pesticide exposure and other information were obtained from self-administered questionnaires completed at the time of enrollment (1993-1997). Cancer incidence was determined through population-based cancer registries from enrollment through Dece

Cancer ResearchBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
5
Article|105 citations·1993
Optimal and Heuristic Decision Strategies for Integrated Production and Marketing Planning
Won Jin Lee, Daesoo Kim
SJR Q1Decision Sciences

ABSTRACT In this study we examine the effects of integrating production and marketing decisions for a short‐ to medium‐range planning horizon in a profit maximizing firm. We formulate two models for determining price, marketing expenditure, demand or production volume, and lot size for a single product with stable demand when economies of scale are present. The full integration (FI) model simultaneously determines all the decisions involved, while the partial integration (PI) model separates the

MarketingBusiness, Management and Accounting
6
Article|102 citations·2005
Agricultural pesticide use and risk of glioma in Nebraska, United States
Won Jin Lee, Joanne S. Colt, Ellen F. Heineman, R B McComb, D D Weisenburger, William Lijinsky, Mary H. Ward
SJR Q1Occupational and Environmental MedicineOA

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the risk of the adult glioma associated with farming and agricultural pesticide use, the authors conducted a population based case control study in eastern Nebraska. METHODS: Telephone interviews were conducted with men and women diagnosed with gliomas (n = 251) between 1988 and 1993 and controls (n = 498) randomly selected from the same geographical area. Unconditional logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for farming and for use of individ

Plant ScienceAgricultural and Biological Sciences
7
Article|99 citations·1993
Determining Order Quantity and Selling Price by Geometric Programming: Optimal Solution, Bounds, and Sensitivity*
Won Jin Lee
SJR Q1Decision Sciences

ABSTRACT This paper presents a geometric programming (GP) approach to finding a profit‐maximizing selling price and order quantity for a retailer. Demand is treated as a nonlinear function of price with a constant elasticity. The proposed GP approach finds optimal solutions for both no‐quantity discounts and continuous quantity discounts cases. This approach is superior to the traditional approaches of solving a system of nonlinear equations. Since the profit function is not concave, the traditi

Management Information SystemsBusiness, Management and Accounting
8
Article|96 citations·2002
Mortality from lung cancer in workers exposed to sulfur dioxide in the pulp and paper industry.
Won Jin Lee, Kay Teschke, Timo Kauppinen, Aage Andersen, Paavo Jäppinen, Irena Szadkowska‐Stańczyk, Neil Pearce, Bodil Persson, Alain Bergeret, Luiz Augusto Facchini, Reiko Kishi, Danuta Kielkowski
SJR Q1Environmental Health PerspectivesOA

Our objective in this study was to evaluate the mortality of workers exposed to sulfur dioxide in the pulp and paper industry. The cohort included 57,613 workers employed for at least 1 year in the pulp and paper industry in 12 countries. We assessed exposure to SO(2) at the level of mill and department, using industrial hygiene measurement data and information from company questionnaires; 40,704 workers were classified as exposed to SO(2). We conducted a standardized mortality ratio (SMR) analy

Health, Toxicology and MutagenesisEnvironmental Science
9
Article|84 citations·2006
Pendimethalin Exposure and Cancer Incidence Among Pesticide Applicators
Lifang Hou, Won Jin Lee, Jennifer A. Rusiecki, Jane A. Hoppin, Aaron Blair, Matthew R. Bonner, Jay H. Lubin, Claudine Samanic, Dale P. Sandler, Mustafa Dosemeci, Michael C.R. Alavanja
SJR Q1EpidemiologyOA

We did not find a clear association of lifetime pendimethalin exposure either with overall cancer incidence or with specific cancer sites.

Plant ScienceAgricultural and Biological Sciences
10
Article|75 citations·2007
Mortality among Pesticide Applicators Exposed to Chlorpyrifos in the Agricultural Health Study
Won Jin Lee, Michael C.R. Alavanja, Jane A. Hoppin, Jennifer A. Rusiecki, Freya Kamel, Aaron Blair, Dale P. Sandler
SJR Q1Environmental Health PerspectivesOA

BACKGROUND: Chlorpyrifos is one of the most widely used organophosphate insecticides in the United States. Although the toxicity of chlorpyrifos has been extensively studied in animals, the epidemiologic data are limited. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether agricultural chlorpyrifos exposure was associated with mortality, we examined deaths among pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study, a prospective study of licensed pesticide applicators in Iowa and North Carolina. METHODS: A total o

Plant ScienceAgricultural and Biological Sciences
11
Article|75 citations·2014
Mortality from and Incidence of Pesticide Poisoning in South Korea: Findings from National Death and Health Utilization Data between 2006 and 2010
Eun Shil, Young‐Ho Khang, Won Jin Lee
SJR Q1PLoS ONEOA

Pesticide poisoning has been recognized as an important public health issue around the world. The objectives of this study were to report nationally representative figures on mortality from and the incidence of pesticide poisoning in South Korea and to describe their epidemiologic characteristics. We calculated the age-standardized rates of mortality from and the incidence of pesticide poisoning in South Korea by gender and region from 2006 through 2010 using registered death data obtained from

Plant ScienceAgricultural and Biological Sciences
12
Review|72 citations·2002
Microsomal epoxide hydrolase polymorphisms and lung cancer risk: a quantitative review
Won Jin Lee, Paul Brennan, Paolo Boffetta, Stephanie J. London, Simone Benhamou, Agneta Rannug, Jordi To‐Figueras, Magnus Ingelman‐Sundberg, Peter G. Shields, Laura Gaspari, Emanuela Taioli
SJR Q3Biomarkers

To investigate the role of microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH) polymorphisms in the aetiology of lung cancer and to assess the interaction between mEH polymorphisms and smoking, we performed a meta-analysis of seven published studies, which included 2078 cases and 3081 controls, and a pooled analysis of eight studies (four published and four unpublished at that time) with a total of 986 cases and 1633 controls. The combined meta-analysis odds ratios (ORs) were 0.98 (95% confidence interval [CI] =

Molecular BiologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
13
Review|71 citations·2021
Cancer Risk After Radioactive Iodine Treatment for Hyperthyroidism
Sung Ryul Shim, Cari M. Kitahara, Eun Shil, Seong‐Jang Kim, Ye Jin Bang, Won Jin Lee
SJR Q1JAMA Network OpenOA

In this meta-analysis, the overall pooled cancer risk after exposure to RAI therapy vs nonexposure was not significant, whereas a linear dose-response association between RAI therapy and solid cancer mortality was observed. These findings suggest that radiation-induced cancer risks following RAI therapy for hyperthyroidism are small and, in observational studies, may only be detectable at higher levels of administered dose.

Endocrinology, Diabetes and MetabolismMedicine
14
Article|61 citations·2014
Suicide from carbon monoxide poisoning in South Korea: 2006–2012
Young‐Rim Choi, Eun Shil, Shu‐Sen Chang, Young‐Ho Khang, Won Jin Lee
SJR Q1Journal of Affective Disorders
Molecular BiologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
15
Article|60 citations·2008
Deaths from pesticide poisoning in South Korea: trends over 10 years
Won Jin Lee, Eun Shil, Eun Sook Park, Kyoung Ae Kong, Jun Hyeok Yi, Mia Son
SJR Q1International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
Plant ScienceAgricultural and Biological Sciences

Research Areas

Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and ImagingPlant ScienceMolecular BiologyPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational HealthElectrical and Electronic EngineeringHealth, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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