Daniel J. Sexton

Dr. Sexton is a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Medicine and is currently a Professor of Medicine at the Duke University School of Medicine.

Early in his career, Dr. Sexton spent two years as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer at the CDC. In addition to 11 years of experience in private practice in Oklahoma City, Dr. Sexton also worked at Monash Medical Center in Melbourne Australia while on sabbatical in 1989. He was made an honorary lifetime member of the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases in 2006.

Dr. Sexton has had a direct role in the training of numerous medical students, residents, fellows, and postdoctoral students during the 26 years he has been on the Duke faculty. Fourteen of 20 fellows who worked under Dr. Sexton’s supervision are currently hospital epidemiologists and active in research related to HAIs.

Dr. Sexton is one of five Editors in Chief of the Infectious Disease section of UpToDate. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed original manuscripts. He is a recipient of the Clinician Award from the Infectious Diseases Society of America and was previously the Chair of the IDSA Clinical Affairs Committee and served on the IDSA Board of Directors and the Board of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Sexton has received the Golden Apple Teaching Award from the Duke University School of Medicine, a Golden Apple Award from the American Medical School Student Association, The Eugene Stead Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Duke Medicine Housestaff (twice) and was named a Master Clinician Teacher by the Duke University School of Medicine in 2011.

Dr. Sexton’s multiple research interests include the risk factors, outcomes, and definition of healthcare-associated bloodstream and surgical site infections, risk factors and outcomes of infections due to Staphylococcus aureus and criteria, outcomes, and complications of infective endocarditis. He founded the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network in 1997 which has since grown to include 43 community hospitals in 6 states. Dr. Sexton is currently the principal investigator on one of 5 epicenter grants awarded by the Centers for Disease Control and the PI for grants from The Duke Foundation and the CDC Foundation related to the Duke Antimicrobial Stewardship Outreach network which he founded in 2013.