About

Benjamin L. Laskin, MD, MS, is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics specializing in Nephrology at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He serves as the Transplant Center Operations Director and is the Chief of the Division of Nephrology at the same institution. His educational background includes a BS in Economics from Duke University, an MD from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and an MS in Clinical and Translational Research from the University of Cincinnati. His research and clinical work focus on pediatric nephrology, with particular attention to kidney transplantation, BK polyomavirus, and nephrotic syndrome, as evidenced by his numerous publications in these areas.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Immunology
• Intensive care medicine
• Gastroenterology

Selected publications

• Comparative Effectiveness of Antihypertensive Medications in Children With Chronic Kidney Disease

  JAMA Pediatrics · 2026-03-16 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Importance: Hypertension is a major modifiable factor for kidney function decline in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Comparative trials of antihypertensive medications in pediatric CKD are lacking. Objective: To evaluate the comparative effectiveness of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibition (RAASi) vs calcium channel blockade (CCB), the most widely used first-line antihypertensive treatment approaches in pediatric CKD, on preservation of kidney function. Design, Setting, and Participants: Using target trial emulation methods, this comparative-effectiveness study emulated a pragmatic, open-label clinical trial using electronic health record data from the Preserving Kidney Function in Children with CKD (PRESERVE) study from January 2009 through December 2020. Thirteen health care institutions from 5 PCORnet Clinical Research Networks were represented. Children and adolescents aged 2 to 20.9 years with CKD stage 2-4 and systolic blood pressure higher than the 90th percentile or with a hypertension diagnosis who initiated treatment with RAASi or CCB were included. Exclusion criteria included kidney replacement therapy, renal artery stenosis, malignancy, and pregnancy. Data analysis was completed in July 2025. Exposures: Incident RAASi or CCB treatment. Randomization was emulated by propensity score weighting to balance groups on sociodemographic factors, institution, year, CKD etiology, proteinuria, CKD stage, obesity, health care use, medications, comorbidities, and blood pressure control (percentage of time at greater than the 90th percentile). Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was progression to kidney replacement therapy within 2 years of follow-up, ascertained through linkage with the United States Renal Data System. The secondary outcome was a composite of kidney replacement therapy, 50% decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate, or estimated glomerular filtration rate less than 15 mL/min/1.73 m2. Cox proportional hazards regression with propensity score stratification was used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) in the intention-to-treat analysis. Adjusted analyses also compared systolic blood pressure control within 2 years of follow-up. Results: Of 2762 children and adolescents, 1757 initiated RAASi (median [IQR] age, 13.1 [9.2-15.5] years; 897 [51.1%] male) and 1005 initiated CCB (median [IQR] age, 12.6 [8.4-15.3] years; 500 [49.8%] male). In adjusted analyses, RAASi was associated with reduced risk of both kidney replacement therapy (aHR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.40-0.84, P = .004) and the secondary composite outcome (aHR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.53-0.83). Systolic blood pressure control was better with RAASi than CCB (29% vs 39% of time >90th percentile). Conclusions and Relevance: In this comparative-effectiveness study, RAASi was associated with lower risk of CKD progression and better blood pressure control compared to CCB. Findings support first-line use of RAASi for antihypertensive treatment in pediatric CKD.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Balanced Fluid or 0.9% Saline in Children Treated for Septic Shock

  New England Journal of Medicine · 2026-04-23 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Whether treatment with balanced crystalloid fluid leads to better outcomes than 0.9% saline in children treated for septic shock is debated. METHODS: In this pragmatic clinical trial conducted at 47 emergency departments in five countries, patients (2 months to <18 years of age) with suspected septic shock and abnormal perfusion were randomly assigned to receive fluid resuscitation with either balanced fluid or 0.9% saline for up to 48 hours. The primary outcome was a major adverse kidney event (a composite of death, new renal-replacement therapy, or persistent kidney dysfunction) at 30 days after enrollment or hospital discharge, whichever occurred first. RESULTS: Of 9041 enrolled patients, 277 (6.1%) in the balanced-fluid group and 282 (6.2%) in the 0.9%-saline group withdrew from the trial, leaving 4235 and 4247 patients, respectively, for analysis. A primary-outcome event occurred in 137 patients (3.4%) in the balanced-fluid group and in 124 (3.0%) in the 0.9%-saline group (difference, 0.4 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.5 to 1.3; risk ratio, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.40; P = 0.85). The median number of hospital-free days during 28 days after enrollment was 23 (interquartile range, 19 to 25) in both groups. Hyperchloremia occurred in 868 patients (31.4%) in the balanced-fluid group and in 1383 (49.0%) in the 0.9%-saline group; hypernatremia in 52 (1.8%) and 89 (3.1%), respectively; and hyperlactatemia in 260 (19.8%) and 228 (16.7%). No differences in other safety outcomes or adverse events were seen. CONCLUSIONS: Among children treated for septic shock, no significant difference was seen in the incidence of death, new renal-replacement therapy, or persistent kidney dysfunction when fluid resuscitation was administered with balanced fluid as compared with 0.9% saline. (Funded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and others; PRoMPT BOLUS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04102371.).

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Preserving Kidney Function in Children with Chronic Kidney Disease (PRESERVE)

  2026-01-06

  report
  PublisherDOI

• Single-nucleotide polymorphisms within the BK polyomavirus non-coding control region are genotype-associated

  Microbiology Spectrum · 2025-06-24 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access

  family. The BKPyV genome is divided into three regions, including the non-coding control region (NCCR), the early region, and the late region. BKPyV has one of the highest mutation rates among DNA viruses, and four genotypes have been identified based on amino acid variation within the VP1 region. Mutations within the NCCR have been noted, and this region exhibits hypervariability. Here, we show that many of the point mutations observed within the NCCR are genotype-associated, termed genotype-associated polymorphisms (GAPs). These GAPs correlate with regions of hypervariability, are inherent to their genotype, and can be used to genotype clinical strains, separate from other genomic regions. We also show that these GAPs fall within predicted transcription factor binding sites and therefore provide targets for further functional studies.IMPORTANCEBK Polyomavirus (BKPyV) is the cause of hemorrhagic cystitis in hematopoietic cell transplant recipients and BKPyV-associated nephropathy in renal transplant recipients and thus is an important determinant of transplant outcome. The viral mechanisms leading to disease manifestation remain to be thoroughly explored, but viral genetic variation has emerged as an area of interest. Understanding genomic diversity between and within BKPyV genotypes can provide sites of interest that may ultimately improve screening strategies and provide insights into the viral factors that contribute to disease.

  PublisherDOI

• 5: ASSOCIATION OF FLUID VOLUME WITH UNGAL AS A BIOMARKER OF KIDNEY INJURY IN PEDIATRIC SEPTIC SHOCK

  Critical Care Medicine · 2025-01-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Quantifying “Medical Renal Disease”: A Pediatric Pilot Study Using Ultrasound Radiomics for Differentiating Acute Kidney Injury and Chronic Kidney Disease

  Diagnostics · 2025-08-21 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Background: Differentiating acute kidney injury (AKI) from chronic kidney disease (CKD) in children remains a critical unmet need due to the limitations of current clinical and biochemical markers. Conventional ultrasound lacks the sensitivity to discern subtle parenchymal alterations. This study explores the application of ultrasound radiomics—a novel, non-invasive, and quantitative image analysis method—for distinguishing AKI from CKD in pediatric patients. Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional pilot study, kidney ultrasound images were obtained from 31 pediatric subjects: 8 with oliguric AKI, 14 with CKD, and 9 healthy controls. Renal parenchyma was manually segmented, and 124 advanced texture features were extracted using the open-source ©PyFeats. Features encompassed multiple categories (e.g., GLCM, GLSZM, WP). Statistical comparisons evaluated intergroup differences. Principal Component Analysis identified the top 10 most informative features, which were used to train supervised machine learning models. Model performance used five-fold cross-validation. Results: Radiomic analysis revealed significant intergroup differences (p &lt; 0.05). CKD cases exhibited increased echogenicity and heterogeneity, particularly in GLCM and GLSZM features, consistent with chronic fibrosis. AKI cases displayed more homogeneous texture, likely reflecting edema or acute inflammation. While echogenicity separated diseased from healthy kidneys, it lacked specificity between AKI and CKD. Among ML models, XGBoost achieved the highest macro-averaged F1 score (0.90), followed closely by SVM and Random Forest, demonstrating strong classification performance. Conclusions: Radiomics-based texture analysis of grayscale ultrasound images effectively differentiated AKI from CKD in this pilot study, offering a promising, non-invasive imaging biomarker for pediatric kidney disease. These preliminary findings justify prospective validation in larger, multicenter cohorts.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• BK polyomavirus genotype IV isolates from virus-specific T-cell therapy recipients

  Microbiology Resource Announcements · 2025-08-27

  articleOpen access

  BK polyomavirus (BKPyV) can cause disease in transplant recipients. Virus-specific T-cell (VST) therapy is effective in decreasing virus levels in many individuals. BKPyV genetic variation can impact replication kinetics and immune responses. Here, we present the near full-length BKPyV genome sequences from two VST recipients in which genotype IV was isolated.

  PublisherDOI

• Pre-Transplant Complement Activation and Transplant-Associated Thrombotic Microangiopathy (TA-TMA) across Diagnostic Groups

  Transplantation and Cellular Therapy · 2025-02-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Bkpyv Replication Kinetics and Association with Hemorrhagic Cystitis in Pediatric HSCT Recipients

  Transplantation and Cellular Therapy · 2025-02-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Insight Into Current BK Polyomavirus Research Efforts: BK Day Meeting 2024

  Transplantation · 2025-05-20

  article
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Immune dysregulation and kidney disease after hematopoietic cell transplant

  NIH · $715k · 2015–2019

Frequent coauthors

• Sonata Jodele

  University of Cincinnati Medical Center

  99 shared

• Stella M. Davies

  Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

  96 shared

• Frederick W. Miller

  National Institutes of Health

  49 shared

• Lisa G. Rider

  National Institutes of Health

  49 shared

• Gregory F. Keenan

  49 shared

• Peter L. Choyke

  49 shared

• Alix E. Seif

  Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

  43 shared

• Anthony Sabulski

  Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

  40 shared

Labs

• Benjamin L. Laskin LabPI