Dr. John Benitez, MD, MPH|

Dr. John G. Benitez completed his Medical Doctorate at Southern Illinois University, Springfield, and a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree at University of Pittsburgh.  He completed a surgical residency at Southwestern Michigan Area Health Education Center, a hyperbaric medicine “mini-fellowship” at St. Luke's Hospital in Milwaukee, WI, a medical education fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and completed a fellowship in clinical toxicology at Vanderbilt University.  Dr. Benitez is currently the medical director for the emergency preparedness program at the Tennessee State Health Department. 

Previously, Dr. Benitez was appointed professor of clinical medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville where still holds an appointed as adjunct professor. He was also associate professor of clinical emergency medicine, community and preventive medicine, environmental medicine, and pediatrics at the University of Rochester, New York, where he also worked as the managing director of the RA Lawrence Poison and Drug Information Center. From 2000-2008, he was director for regional emergency preparedness at the University of Rochester Medical Center, medical director of the Pittsburgh Poison Center, and director of the multidisciplinary MPH program at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. He is a member of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s Committee on Strengthening the Disaster Resilience of Academic Research Communities. Dr. Benitez is also a member of the U.S. Army Reserves, where he holds the rank of Colonel and serves as a Preventive Medical Officer.