Thomas Benfield

Thomas Benfield is a Professor at the University of Copenhagen and a Consultant at the Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital – Amager and Hvidovre. He serves as Director of Clinical Research at the Department of Infectious Diseases and Director of the Center of Clinical Research & Disruption of Infectious Diseases (CREDID). Additionally, he is Deputy Head of the Department of Clinical Medicine at the University of Copenhagen and Editor-in-chief of the Danish Medical Journal.

Dr. Benfield earned his Medical degree (MD) from the University of Copenhagen in January 1992 and his Doctoral degree (DMSc) from the same institution in January 2003. His professional training included internships and fellowships at multiple Danish hospitals including Hvidovre Hospital, Roskilde Hospital, and Rigshospitalet, as well as a fellowship at the Critical Care Medicine Department of the National Institute of Health in the USA (1994-95).

Dr. Benfield maintains a lifelong clinician scientist career with primary focus on basic and clinical research within HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, sepsis, and pneumonia. His clinical trial work emphasizes sepsis, pneumonia, HIV, and viral respiratory infections including COVID-19, influenza, and RSV. He has served as investigator and subinvestigator for clinical phase I-III trials of antiretrovirals, antivirals, and vaccines, and has chaired phase I, II, and III Data Safety Monitoring Boards. His clinical expertise includes the management of patients infected with sepsis, pneumonia, meningitis, tuberculosis, HIV, and hepatitis B and C.

Dr. Benfield's recent research output demonstrates a strong focus on HIV-related comorbidities, particularly cardiovascular complications and metabolic disorders in people living with HIV. His work also addresses critical aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including treatment optimization with dexamethasone and biomarker analysis. A significant portion of his research examines the intersection of infectious diseases with cardiovascular medicine, pulmonary function, and metabolic health, with numerous publications in high-impact journals.

• Hartmann Prize (2021)
• Danish Medical Association Honour Prize (2021)
• William Nielsen Award (2022)

Dr. Benfield leads a substantial research group comprising current PhD students (5), postdocs (1), pregraduate research students (2), a technician, statistician, and study nurses (2). He has previously supervised 12 PhD students as main supervisor and 10 as co-supervisor, along with 43 bachelor and graduate students. His research is generously funded with over €3,000,000 in grants from the past five years, including support from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Lundbeck Foundation, and Independent Research Fund Denmark.

As Director of CREDID (Center of Clinical Research & Disruption of Infectious Diseases), Dr. Benfield oversees a multidisciplinary team focused on innovative approaches to infectious disease research and treatment. He also serves as Editor-in-chief of the Danish Medical Journal and is a steering committee member of Trial Nation Infectious Disease and Immune Therapy.