Duke STAR Program and the Pediatric Trials Network.

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 100 of the most commonly used medicines in children. These trials are 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, college graduate school, and medical students that recruits and mentors ~30 students each academic year.  He has been the primary or secondary mentor for 10 faculty who have received career development awards and who have then gone on to establish their own independent research programs; six of whom are now Distinguished Professors.

Danny's service to the community is expressed through his passion for coaching baseball. He has coached over 1,000 recreation league, travel league, and scholastic baseball games. He is the head coach for Smith Middle School Baseball, perennially southern conference champions. Danny and his wife own a charitable non-profit that provides athletic and fitness opportunities for disadvantaged and special-needs school-aged boys and girls.

Dr. Armstrong's clinical and research interests include pediatric nutrition and the treatment of childhood and adolescent obesity, along with related health problems. As director of the Duke Children's Healthy Lifestyles Program, Dr. Armstrong oversees a cohort of over 3000 overweight children and teenagers. She is a member of the Executive Committee for the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Obesity.  Dr. Armstrong's research focuses on leveraging innovative strategies to improve children's nutrition and activity, including mobile health interventions, community partnerships, and medication or surgical approaches.

Rachel G. Greenberg, MD, MB, MHS is a neonatologist and Professor of Pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center and Duke Clinical Research Institute. Dr. Greenberg’s research focuses on improving safety and efficacy of drugs in infants and children, particularly through her efforts as a Principal Investigator and Steering Committee Chair for the NICHD-funded Pediatric Trials Network. She is also alternate PI of the North Carolina clinical Center for the Neonatal Research Network and PI of the NICHD-funded HEAL KIDS Pain Resource and Data Center. In addition, she has been principal investigator of multiple trials funded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control, and National Institutes of Health.