Dennis R. Durbin, MD, MSCE is the president of the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and professor and vice-chair for Research in the Department of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. He provides leadership to the scientific and administrative operations of the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s and provides support to the over 200 faculty conducting a broad portfolio of research, from basic discovery science to population health research.

He was recruited to Nationwide Children’s to serve as the initial chief scientific officer in 2018, and since that time has supported the recruitment of over 50 new research-intensive faculty, created the hospital’s first chief clinical research officer position, overseen the construction of the hospital’s fourth dedicated research building, set to open in 2023, and contributed to the formation of Andelyn Biosciences, a spin-off contract development and manufacturing organization for cell and gene therapies.

Dr. Durbin is an internationally recognized injury epidemiologist with over two decades of experience in traffic safety research and developing the evidence base for child and adolescent traffic safety interventions. He has extensive experience translating research findings into policy and practice, and his research has received awards from the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.