Faculty Bios

Pediatric Clinical Trials Conference

Course Co-Chair - Lisa Benson, BS

President, Pediatric Clinical Research Consulting, LLC 

Lisa Benson, is a Pediatric Research Consultant and formerly the Sr. Vice President of Clinical Site Network at the Institute for Advance Clinical Trials for Children. Her pediatric research background is extensive with over 40 years in the field. She has experience in external infrastructure development and working to establish best practices and common tools for pediatric clinical trials. She has led educational programs and works with sites to ensure engagement of patients, parents, and children of all ages. Formerly she comes from the Department of Research at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Hartford, CT where she was Senior Director of Research Operations and Sponsored Program, including the Clinical Trials Unit, Research Compliance, Research Finance, Contracts, and Grants. She has extensive experience in site management and quality, inter-institutional collaborations, and decision analytics. Ms. Benson is regarded as a highly-respected research administrator and clinical research operations expert. She is a Certified Clinical Research Contract Professional and has served as board member of the Society of Clinical Research Associates (SOCRA). She has held leadership roles for the Clinical Research Associates of the Children’s Oncology Group. Ms. Benson is a well-known educator and author in pediatric clinical research operations and administration, serving on the faculty of SOCRA, invited speaker.

Course Co-Chair - Grace Wentzel, CHRC, CCRP 

Senior Director, Healthcare Partners, Javara

Grace Wentzel is Executive Director of Site Operations at Javara, an Integrated Research Organization, where she works to integrate clinical research in a variety of community-based settings to reach patients who often lack access with a mission of Clinical Research as a Care Option. Prior to her role with Javara, Grace spent 32 years at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, a large pediatric academic medical center, overseeing their centralized clinical research infrastructure. Grace is dually certified with SOCRA and HCCA and continues to be heavily focused on leadership, patient access and engagement and training and education for clinical research professionals. Grace loves to spend as much time as she can with her family and their charcoal lab at their lake house, boating, watching the sunset and reading a good book.