Update Your ProfileAcademic Title:
Professor
Primary Appointment:
Medicine
Secondary Appointment(s):
Epidemiology & Public Health
Additional Title:
Vice Chair for Research, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Nutrition, Dept. of Medicine
Location:
HSF III, 670 West Baltimore Street, Room 4108C
Phone (Primary):
(410) 706-0161
Education and Training
Princeton University, B.A, Psychology, 1978
University of Michigan, M.P.H., Epidemiology, 1982
University of Michigan, Ph.D, Epidemiology, 1987
University of Texas Health Science Center, Postdoctoral, Epidemiology, 1991
Biosketch
Dr. Mitchell is a genetic epidemiologist with extensive experience studying the genetics of complex diseases. He has directed and played leading roles in numerous studies of cardiometabolic and bone health aimed at uncovering the genetic architecture of these traits, identifying genetic variants that influence disease risk, and determining how these effects are modified by lifestyle factors. His research has been continuously funded by the NIH for more than 25 years.
He serves as co-Director of the Amish Research Program, where much of his current research focuses on the epidemiology and genetics of cardiometabolic health in the Amish. A second major part of his research portfolio focuses on the genetics of ischemic stroke, work that is enabled through his participation in several large international consortia. He has published over 500 papers from his research.
Dr. Mitchell has held multiple leadership positions in large consortia and served on numerous editorial and advisory committees. He previously served as the Associate Director of both the Mid-Atlantic Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC) and the Baltimore Diabetes Research Center (DRC). At the University of Maryland, he has been deeply involved in graduate education, including mentoring many talented students, fellows, and junior faculty, fostering their development into successful academic and translational researchers.
Research/Clinical Keywords
genetic epidemiology, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Amish, genetics
Highlighted Publications
Mitchell BD, Onyenobi E, Lewis JP, Gaynor B, Perry JA, Maloney K, O'Connell JR, Tiner J, Beitelshees AL, Van Hout CV, McArdle PF, Xu H, Puffenberger EG, Brigatti KW, Daue M, Whitlatch HB, Alkelai A, Schäffer AA, Overton J, Streeten EA, Pollin TI, Shuldiner AR. Exonic variation and its clinical impact in 7221 Old Order Amish. Am J Med Genet A. 2025 Aug 6:e64212. doi: 10.1002/ajmg.a.64212. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40767373.
Shen H, Damcott CM, Rampersaud E, Pollin TI, Horenstein R, McArdle PF, Peyser PA, O’Connell JR, Bielak LF, Post W, Chang Y-P C, Ryan KA, Miller M, Shelton J, Shuldiner AR, Mitchell BD. Familial defective apolipoprotein B-100 and increased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and coronary artery calcification in the Old Order Amish. Arch Intern Med 170:1850-1855, 2010. PMC3587042.
Rampersaud E, Mitchell BD, Pollin TI, Fu M, Shen H, O’Connell JR, Ducharme JL, Hines S, Sack P, Naglieri R, Shuldiner AR, Snitker S. Physical activity and the association of common FTO gene variants with body mass index and obesity. Arch Intern Med 168(16):1791-1797, 2008. PMC3635949.
Pulit S, McArdle PF, Wong Q, Malik R, Gwinn K, . . . , Mitchell BD*, Rosand J*. Loci associated with ischaemic stroke and its subtypes (SiGN): a genome-wide association study. Lancet Neurol 15:174-184, 2016. PMC4912948.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/braxton.mitchell.1/collections/50650637/public/
Additional Publication Citations
Nguyen K, Xu H, Gaynor BJ, McArdle PF, O'Connor TD, Perry JA, Worrall BB, Malik R, Boncoraglio GB, Adebamowo SN, Zand R, Cole JW, Kittner SJ, Mitchell BD; Stroke Genetic Network and Early-Onset Stroke Consortia. Impact of conventional stroke risk factors on early- and late-onset ischemic stroke: A Mendelian randomization study. Stroke 56:640-648, 2025. PMC11856430.
He S, McArdle PF, Ryan KA, Daue M, Xu H, Barry KH, Magder LS, Shuldiner AR, Pollin TI, Mitchell BD. Association of parity with BMI and cardiometabolic risk in high-parous women. Menopause 30:703-708, 2023. PMC10313795.
Lynch M, Maloney KA, Pollin TI, Streeten EA, Puffenberger EG, Strauss KA, Regeneron Genetics Center, Shuldiner AR, Mitchell BD. Impact of parental relatedness on reproductive outcomes. Am J Med Genet A 188:2119-2128, 2022.
Jaworek T, Xu H, Gaynor BJ, . . ., Mitchell BD*, Kittner SJ*; Early Onset Stroke Genetics Consortium of the International Stroke Genetics Consortium (ISGC). Contribution of common genetic variants to risk of early onset ischemic stroke. Neurology 99:e1738-54, 2022. PMC9620803.
Mitchell AB, Cole JW, McArdle PF, Cheng Y-C, Ryan KA, Sparks MJ, Mitchell BD, Kittner SJ. Obesity increases risk of ischemic stroke in young adults. Stroke 46(6):1690-92, 2015. PMC4458137.
Seifter A, Singh S, McArdle PF, Ryan KA, Shuldiner AR, Mitchell BD, Schäffer AA. Analysis of the bereavement effect after the death of a spouse in the Amish. BMJ Open 4(1): e003670, 2014. PMC3902313.
Horenstein RB, Mitchell BD, Post WS, Leutjohann D, von Bergmann K, Ryan KA, Terrin M, Shuldiner AR, Steinle NI. The ABCG8 G574R variant, serum plant sterol levels, and cardiovascular disease risk in the Old Order Amish. Arterioscl Thromb Vasc Biol 33:413-9, 2013. PMC3817740.
Mitchell BD, McArdle PF, Shen H, RampersaudE, PollinTI, Bielak LF, Jaquish C, Douglas JA, Roy-Gagnon M-H, Sack P, Naglieri R, Hines S, Horenstein RB, Chang Y-P C, Post W, Ryan KA, Brereton NH, Pakyz RE, Sorkin J, Damcott CM, O’Connell JR, Mangano C, Corretti M, Vogel R, Herzog W, Weir MR, Peyser PA, Shuldiner AR. The genetic response to short-term interventions affecting cardiovascular function: rationale and design of the HAPI Heart Study. Am Heart Journal 155:823-828, 2008. PMC2443415.
McArdle PF, Pollin TI, O’Connell JR, Sorkin JD, Agarwala R, Schäffer AA, Streeten EA, King TM, Shuldiner AR, Mitchell BD. Does having children extend lifespan? A genealogical study of parity and longevity in the Amish. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 61:190-195, 2006.
Research Interests
There is a substantial genetic contribution for susceptibility to most common diseases and traits, although for many of these diseases, specific DNA polymorphisms related to disease susceptibility have yet to be identified. My research program utilizes a variety of approaches to try to dissect the genetic and environmental determinants of a variety of complex diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, hypertension, osteoporosis and obesity. The goal of these efforts is to detect and identify common gene variants that may influence susceptibility to one or more of these disorders, and to determine how these variants may interact with other gene variants and/or with lifestyle factors to influence disease risk.
Much of my research is carried out in large population studies and includes collaborations with clinicians, molecular biologists, and geneticists. My current research focuses mainly on cardiometabolic health, stroke, and osteoarthritis. In addition to my work with the Old Order Amish community, my major research projects include the genetics of ischemic stroke in the Stroke Genetics Network, and the genetics of osteoarthritis in the Osteoarthritis Initiative.
Awards and Affiliations
Klare Memorial Scholarship (University of Michigan), 1982.
Diabetes Epidemiology Training Grant (University of Michigan), 1984-87.
Modan Award for top scoring epidemiology abstract submitted to the Ann Scientific Mtg of the American Diabetes Assoc. (with Kao WHL), 2000.
Faculty Mentor Award. Program in Epidemiology and Human Genetics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 2006.
Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Research Award for American Heart Association Grant-in-Aid, 2008.
Faculty Mentor Award. Program in Epidemiology and Human Genetics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 2011.
Outstanding Alumnus Award. St. Paul’s School. Brooklandville, MD, 2011.
Research Faculty Teacher of the Year Award. Div of Endocrinol, Diabetes, & Nutr. Dept of Medicine, Univ of Maryland School of Medicine, 2012.
Chairman’s Special Achievement Award, Dept. of Medicine, Dept of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 2017, 2023, 2024.
Core Values Award. University of Maryland, Baltimore, 2017.
Visiting Professorship, Universidade Federal Do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil. Dec 1-Dec 14, 2023
Grants and Contracts
Active
Title: Genetics of ischemic stroke in the SiGN Consortium
Major Goals: The goals of this application are to determine the genetic determinants of stroke in the Stroke Genetics Network (SiGN), including an analysis of rare variants associated with stroke subtypes, and to make the SiGN resource accessible to the stroke genetics community.
Project Number: R01NS100178; 6/2017-2/2023
Name of PD/PI: Mitchell
Title: The Impact of Carboxylesterase 1 (CES1) in personalized antiplatelet therapy
Major Goals: This study prospectively assesses the impact of genetic variation in the carboxylesterase 1 (CES1) gene on platelet aggregation in response to the P2Y12 receptor inhibitors clopidogrel and ticagrelor.
Project Number: HL137922; 7/2017-6/2023
Name of PD/PI: Lewis
Title: Genetics of Early-Onset Ischemic Stroke Consortium
Major Goals: The goals of this project are to study the early-onset stroke has a higher heritability than older- onset stroke, and GWAS based on early-onset stroke cases only or using age-informed analysis models have uncovered new stroke-associated variants.
Project Number: R01NS105150; 1/2018-12/2023
Name of PD/PI: Kittner
Title: Lifespan Vascular Biology on White Matter
Major Goals: This study will track the lifespan relationships between several vascular functional mechanisms and white matter lifespan changes, to identify the key mechanisms that may aid prevention efforts against vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease and promote normal, successful aging.
Project Number: R01NS114628; 8/2020-8/2024
Name of PD/PI: Hong/Mitchell
Title: Amish Genotype-First Expansion Study
Major Goals: The overall aim of our project is to expand our pedigrees in families in whom we have identified variants of interest in our initial genetic studies and to more deeply phenotype carriers and noncarriers.
Project Number: NA; 2/2019-2/2024
Name of PD/PI: Mitchell
Title: Urushiol sensitivity response in adults with CD1A gene variants
Major Goals: The overall aim of our project is to determine whether CD1A genotype at a common regulatory variant in this gene, as well as variants in the intergenic region of the CD1A locus, influence CD1A protein expression in a particular class of immune cells.
Project Number: 2019_023792
Name of PD/PI: Mitchell; 2/2019-2/2023
Title: Polygenic Risk Score (PRS) Methods and Analysis for Populations of Diverse Ancestry
Major Goals:
*Status of Support: This research will lead to a better understanding of the transferability of polygenic risk scores from discovery to target populations of different ethnicities, informing prevention and diagnostic strategies that could contribute to the development of effective public health policies.
Project Number: 1U01HG011717; 6/2021-5/2026
Name of PD/PI: Adebamowo
Title: Genetic Diversity in Plain Populations
Major Goals: The purpose of this study is to expand a population-based database of Amish exonic variants segregating in the Amish population by recruiting, phenotyping, and exome sequencing 8,630 Amish and Mennonite participants from settlements including but not limited to those in Lancaster Co (PA), Geauga Co (OH), LaGrange Co (IN), Holmes Co (OH), Adams Co (IN), and in the Pinecraft Community in Sarasota (FL).
Project Number: NA; 12/2021-12/2026
Name of PD/PI: Mitchell
In the News
Opinion piece. Autism in the Amish. Oct 2, 2025. There's autism among the Amish, but prevalence is hard to measure | STAT
Interview. BMI, Blood pressure increase risk of early onset stroke. April 1, 2025. BMI, Blood Pressure Increase Risk of Early Onset Stroke. M.D./alert.
Community Service
Student Support Network, Board of Directors, 2018-2021
Professional Activity
Steering Committee, International Type 2 Diabetes Linkage Analysis Consortium, 1998-2004
Steering Committee, IRAS Family Study, 1999-2004
Scientific Sessions Planning Committee, American Diabetes Association, 2001-2002
NIH Study Section standing member, Cardiovascular and Sleep Epidemiology Study Section [CASE], 2002-2006
Co-Editor, Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews, 2002-2014
Associate Editor, Diabetes, 2009-2016
Editorial Advisory Board, Diabetes Management, 2011-2014
Faculty mentor, Young Investigator Initiative (YII) grant writing program, United States Bone and Joint Decade, 2011-2019
Steering Committee, Stroke Genetics Network (SiGN), 2012-present
NIH Study Section Standing member, Kidney, Obesity, Nutrition, and Diabetes Study Section [KNOD], 2013-2017
External Scientific Review Board, Cardiac Health Project (ICHP), Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, 2013-present
Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR) Access Committee, NHGRI, 2014-2019 (Chair, 2017-2019)
NIH Rare Disease Clinical Research Network grant review, Co-Chair, 2019
Institute for Aging Research (IFAR) External Scientific Advisory Committee, 2017-2020
Observational Study Monitoring Board (OSMB). Advance Prevention of Pulmonary Fibrosis, UG3-UH3 Rare Disease Cohort. 2023-
Abstract reviewer, International Stroke Conference. 2018-
External Advisory Committee. Alzheimer Disease Sequencing Project, CHARGE Consortium. 2020-2022.
Links of Interest
Previous Positions
- 1991-1994: Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Clinical Epidemiology, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas
- 1994-2000: Staff Scientist (1994-96), Associate Scientist (1996-98), Scientist (1999-2000), Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, TX