Cardiothoracic Surgery Faculty

Dr. Mitchell holds the academic rank of Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Colorado. Dr. Mitchell received his doctorate in medicine from the George Washington University School of Medicine. He then completed residencies in General Surgery and Thoracic Surgery at the University of Colorado. Dr. Mitchell conducted basic science research investigation during a full-time two-year National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in the surgical laboratory at the University of Colorado. Dr. Mitchell undertook fellowship training in Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery for one year at The Children’s Hospital in Denver, and subsequently served as the Senior Fellow in Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. He has been a faculty member of the Department of Surgery at the University of Colorado since 1998.

Dr. Mitchell is the Director of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center. He is the Director of the Mechanical Circulatory Support Program at The Children’s Hospital, and he currently serves on the medical board of The Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Mitchell’s clinical interests include neonatal and congenital cardiac surgery, congenital and acquired diseases of the mitral valve, atrioventricular valve repair in children and adults, and pediatric cardiac transplantation. His basic research interests include myocardial preservation and endothelial cell function. He is currently conducting clinical projects studying outcomes following a variety of congenital cardiac surgical conditions. In addition, Dr. Mitchell has ongoing studies examining biologic differences between normal and pathologic heart valves in pediatric patients. He has authored or co-authored 46 scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals and 16 book chapters. Dr. Mitchell has made scientific presentations at more than 16 national and international meetings, and he has given invited lectures in Japan, China and Spain. Dr. Mitchell has an interest in third world medicine and has participated on volunteer medical missions in Kazakhstan and China. Dr. Mitchell has served in Iraq as a military surgeon.

Dr. Mitchell, is a member of 11 professional organizations including the American College of Surgeons, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the Western Thoracic Surgical Association, the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery and the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation.