Arapahoe County Coroner Kelly Lear, M.D. was recently acknowledged for Outstanding Service by the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME). The award recognizes Dr. Lear’s contributions to the organization and reflects the high esteem of her colleagues.  

The NAME’s Outstanding Service award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated dedication and service to the organization and its mission and recognizes significant contributions to the advancement of medicolegal death investigations in the United States. Dr. Lear is one of three medical professionals to be honored in 2022.   

“Following an unprecedented increase in youth suicides within Arapahoe County, Dr. Lear helped create the Suicide Prevention Taskforce, advocating for increased access to and understanding of mental health resources within high schools and the community,” said Arapahoe County Commissioner Nancy Jackson.  

“She has been a strong voice in our community in raising awareness of the fentanyl and opioid epidemics by participating in the County’s Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force and the State’s first-ever summit focused on the growing fentanyl crisis.” 

First elected to the position in 2014, Dr. Lear's office works on behalf of the deceased to obtain the truth about their death and supports families in crisis and grief with compassion and professionalism. As a forensic pathologist, Dr. Lear is responsible for performing autopsies, determining the cause and manner of death, supervising medicolegal death investigations, and providing expert witness testimony and consultation to the District Attorney's Office and Public Defender’s Office.  

She is a nationally recognized expert in forensic pathology, infant and childhood death investigation and prevention, mass fatality management, and forensic pathologist training and education. 

The NAME was founded in 1966 as the premier professional organization for medical examiners, forensic pathologists, and medicolegal affiliates and administrators.