Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics, Duke University
Danny Benjamin, MD, PhD, MPH was named the Deputy Executive Director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) in 2020 and has been with the DCRI since 2001. He was named the Kiser-Arena Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics at Duke University in 2014. He conducts research in research in clinical pharmacology, therapeutics, trials, and pharmacoepidemiology.
Dr. Benjamin serves as the Principal Investigator and Chair of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development’s Pediatric Trials Network. The Network is responsible for designing and leading clinical trials of off-patent medicines in children of all ages across all therapeutic areas. The Pediatric Trials Network has directly impacted the healthcare of over 90% of American children. Under Dr. Benjamin’s leadership, in the past 20 years, the network has enrolled more premature infants, at more sites, in more clinical trials of off-patent anti-infectives under an IND than all other academic medical centers, pharmaceutical companies, and government agencies in the world, combined.
In his role as a mentor for junior faculty, fellows, and students (STAR, Duke-MSU STAR), he works to recruit, develop, and retain physicians committed to the scientific investigation of medical therapies and pediatric clinical trials. He has authored more than 400 peer-reviewed publications, with the majority featuring a mentee as the first author — highlighting his strong commitment to mentorship and collaborative scholarship. During his tenure as an advisor to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on improved pediatric clinical trial design, Dr. Benjamin held a joint appointment as a medical officer and special pediatric consultant providing programmatic advice on pediatric research regulation.
Dr. Benjamin completed his undergraduate degree, medical degree, and pediatric residency at the University of Virginia. Board-certified in pediatrics and pediatric infectious disease, he completed pediatric infectious disease subspecialty training at Duke University Medical Center and received a PhD in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.