Doug Mitchell has been appointed the holder of the William Kelly Warren Sr. Chair in Biochemistry and professor chemistry. He has also been named director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Chemical Biology. As VICB director, Mitchell will synergize with efforts at Vanderbilt University Medical Center to seek new therapies for drug-resistant infections and other diseases. He succeeds Gary Sulikowski, Stevenson Professor of Chemistry, who directed the VICB from 2017 – 2024.
“As a trailblazer in the field of chemical biology, Professor Mitchell’s rigorous approach in the lab and exceptional collaborative spirit makes him a generational leader poised to push the boundaries of chemical biology,” said John Kuriyan, dean of basic sciences and University Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry. “His arrival at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences represents an exciting chapter in our school’s storied history. We look forward to the impact that Mitchell’s work will undoubtedly have on peptide-based drug discovery.”
The Mitchell group combines cutting-edge chemical and biological approaches to create new natural products—highly evolved and functionally privileged compounds with complex molecular structures—by harnessing ribosomal synthesis of polypeptides with enzyme chemistry to extensively modify the ribosomally generated peptides. Using a genes-to-molecule approach, Mitchell has revealed unprecedented enzyme chemistry used to make numerous structurally unique molecules. These discoveries allow Mitchell and his collaborators to produce new-to-nature compounds with the full biosynthetic potential of nature to reshape the diagnosis and treatment of human disease.
“We are excited that Dr. Mitchell is joining our faculty. His creativity, talent, and enthusiasm for discovery science will not only make his own research program outstanding but will also have major positive impacts on all of us at Vanderbilt,” said David Cortez, Richard Armstrong Professor for Innovation in Biochemistry and chair of the biochemistry department. “Dr. Mitchell will be an exceptional asset in the departments of biochemistry and chemistry, and most certainly as leader of chemical biology across campus.”
Mitchell joins Vanderbilt from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he was a tenured professor of chemistry. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry in the lab of Michael Marletta in 2006. Subsequently, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Jack Dixon at the University of California, San Diego.
Mitchell has received the National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award (2011–2015), a Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering (2012), a Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry (2015), and the National Fresenius Award (2016). He is a member of the American Chemical Society (2015), Phi Lambda Upsilon (the National Chemical Honor Society; 2015), and more. Mitchell has been elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2023) and the American Academy of Microbiology (2024). In addition to co-founding a San Diego-based company pursuing anticancer macrocyclic peptides in 2019, Mitchell was a visiting professor at ETH Zürich in Switzerland (2016) and Monash University in Melbourne, Australia (2024).
“I am honored to join Vanderbilt University as a faculty member in the departments of biochemistry and chemistry and as leader of the VICB. My mission for the institute is to provide exceptional educational and training experiences for the next generation of chemical biologists,” Mitchell said. “Through world-class core facilities, a dynamic seminar series, training grants, and a vibrant student association, the VICB fosters an inclusive and collaborative environment for trainees to make transformative discoveries. Vanderbilt’s outstanding medical research infrastructure offers a unique opportunity to bridge chemistry and biology with the aim of improving human health.”
Mitchell’s highly collaborative research has been published in leading scientific journals, and he is a member of several grant review panels, committees, and programs. Mitchell is also a dedicated mentor and has mentored numerous graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, visiting scholars, and undergraduate students.