Daniel Kelly Benjamin, MD, PhD

Dr. Danny Benjamin is 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 team has established, or is actively studying, the correct dosing and safety of more than 70 of the most commonly used medicines in children. Each of these trials is conducted under an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with guidance from the Food and Drug Administration for labeling.
The Pediatric Trials Network has directly impacted the healthcare of over 90% of American children.
Signature programs of the Network include clinical trials in premature, term infants, breast feeding mothers, and obese children. Over the past 10 years, Danny’s group 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.
Danny is recognized by the National Institutes of Health as a premiere mentor and educator. His research program serves as a platform to train students and early career investigators. Danny’s group has a clinical research summer program for high school and college students targeting under-represented minority students, and he is the primary mentor for medical students, residents, subspecialty fellows, and multiple junior faculty. He has been the primary or secondary mentor for 10 faculty who have received career development awards and who have then gone on to secure their own funding.
Danny's service to the community is expressed through his passion for coaching baseball. He has coached over 500 recreation league, travel league, and scholastic baseball games and he is the head coach of Smith Middle School, the 5-year reigning southern conference champions. Danny and his wife own a charitable non-profit that provides athletic and fitness opportunities for disadvantaged school-aged boys and girls.
Education and Training
- Fellow, Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Pediatrics, Duke University, 1998 - 2001
- Resident, Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, 1995 - 1998
- Ph.D., University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, 2003
- M.P.H., University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, 2001
- M.D., University of Virginia, 1995
Selected Grants and Awards
- UNC-Duke Collaborative Clinical Pharmacology Postdoctoral Training Program
- Duke-UNC Collaborative Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology Postdoctoral Training Program
- Duke Summer Training in Academic Research (Duke's STAR)
- Duration of post-discontinuation antibiotic exposures in premature infants and associated outcomes
- ACTIV-6: COVID-19 Outpatient Randomized Trial to Evaluate Efficacy of Repurposed Medications
- Duke CTSA (TL1) Year 5
- Bridging the Gap to Enhance Clinical Research Program (BIGGER)
- ACTIV-1
- Duke Resident Physician-Scientist Program - NIAID
- Duke Resident Physician-Scientist Program- NHLBI
- PTN 2.0 TO 1 Core Function Activities_Option 3
- PTN 2.0 TO 1 Core Function Activities_Option 3.1
- ABCs of North Carolina Plan A
- Mentoring Patient Oriented Research in Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
- Investigating polypharmacy-related adverse events in critically ill children using electronic health records and simulated drug levels
- UNC-Duke Collaborative Clinical Pharmacology Postdoctoral Training Program
- PTN 2.0 TO 1 Core Function Activities_Option 2
- Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Safety of Methylprednisolone in Neonates on Cardiopulmonary Bypass
- Pediatric Trials Network_ Task Order 1_ Core Function Activities Option Period 1
- Mentorship of early-career pediatricians in quantitative methods and therapeutics
- Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetics in Critically Ill Children
- UNC-Duke Collaborative Clinical Pharmacology Postdoctoral Training Program
- Pediatric Trials Network_ Task Order 1_ Core Function Activities
- SOLI - Solithromycin Pediatric Development Program (Phase 2/3)- Labor & Sub Cost
- Duke Research Training Program for Pediatricians
- PTN TO #34: Program Management Support - Option 2
- PTN TO #34: Program Management Support - Option 2 Mod 1 (Mod 4)
- PTN TO#47 (Protocol Development V)
- Duke CTSA (UL1): Statistical methods for complex data in CV disease research
- NIH Summer Research Experience Programs (R25)
- PTN TO#42 HAP - Modification #1
- PTN TO#42 HAP
- Pediatric Trials Network
- PTN TO #34: Program Management Support
- PTN TO#14 (Mod #3) - Efficacy of sildenafil in premature infants with Pulmonary Hypertension
- NRSA Training Grant for Clinical Pharmacology - Dallefeld and Chaparro
- PTN Task Order #13: Pharmacokinetics of Antistaphylococcal Antibiotics in Infants
- Institutional Training Grant in Pediatric Infectious Disease
- PTN TO#40 (Protocol Development IV)
- PTN Task Order #28 Baby Tape
- PTN Task Order #9: Midazolam
- The Duke Multidisciplinary Training Program in Pediatric Lung Disease
- PTN Task Order 34 - Program Management Support
- UNC-Duke Collaborative Clinical Pharmacology Postdoctoral Training Program
- Phase I CTU Task Area A: Administrative and Overal Clinical Operations Support and Concept Development
- PTN Task Order #5: Acyclovir
- PTN Task Order--Protocol Development III
- PTN Task Order #15: Fluconazole Safety Trials
- PTN Task Order #16: Pediatrix Safety Study
- Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Antibiotics in Premature Infants
- Multidisciplinary Neonatal Training Grant
- Institutional Training Grant in Pediatric Cardiology
- PTN Task Order #24: Protocol Development II
- PTN Task Order #14: Sildenafil study
- Prevention of Invasive Candidiasis: PK, Safety, and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes
- PTN Task Order #12 Protocol Development (RFTOPs)
- PHARMACOKINETICS OF ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS IN HIGH RISK INFANTS
- PTN Task Order #8: TAPE
- PTN Task Order #10: Ampicillin
- PTN Task Order #11: Obesity Informatics Database
- CTSA UL
- Prevention of Invasive Candidiasis: PK, Safety, and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes
- Complement Regulates the Humoral Response to HIV-1
- North Carolina Collaborative PPRU Network
- Best Pharmaceutical for Children Act (BPCA): Use of Meropenem in Infants
- Early Diagnosis of Neonatal Candidiasis
- Clinical Predictors of Antiretroviral Failure