Allen A. Mitchell, M.D.

Director Emeritus
Slone Epidemiology Center
Emeritus Professor of Epidemiology and Pediatrics
Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine
allenmit@bu.edu
Education:
B.A., 1967, Washington University
M.D., 1970, Tufts University School of Medicine
Research Interests:
Allen A. Mitchell is Emeritus Professor of Epidemiology and Pediatrics at the Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine. He obtained his B.A. degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 1966 and his M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston in 1970. After pediatric residency training at the Boston Floating Hospital for Infants and Children (Tufts-New England Medical Center), he joined the Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program where, among other activities, he worked with Drs. Slone, Shapiro, and Heinonen in the analysis of Collaborative Perinatal Project data on birth defects and drugs in pregnancy. In 1973-75 he was a fellow in pediatric clinical pharmacology at Children’s Hospital in Boston (jointly with the Center for the Evaluation of Clinical Procedures at the Harvard School of Public Health), during which time he established the Pediatric Drug Surveillance (“PeDS”) Program, an intensive drug surveillance effort focused on the frequency of medication use and adverse effects among hospitalized children. In 1975 he joined Drs. Slone and Shapiro at the newly-created Drug Epidemiology Unit (now Slone Epidemiology Center) at Boston University, where he continued to direct the PeDS Program. Following his interest in both pharmacoepidemiology and birth defects, Dr. Mitchell in 1975 applied the concept of case-control surveillance to the study of teratogenesis, and initiated the Slone Birth Defects Study (BDS) which continues to this time, having collected data on prenatal exposures from tens of thousands of malformed infants (and controls) identified via birth defects registries in Massachusetts and New York State and at participating hospitals in the regions surrounding Philadelphia, Toronto, San Diego, and Nashville. The BDS is now one of two data collection components collaborating with the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology in a national systematic surveillance effort (Vaccines and Medication in Pregnancy Safety Surveillance—“VAMPSS”) designed to evaluate the risks and safety of the wide range of medications taken by pregnant women. Dr. Mitchell also designed and directed a practitioner-based “large simple” randomized trial of 84,000 children to assess the safety of pediatric ibuprofen; that practitioner (SCOR) network continues to conduct clinically-relevant office-based research. He also designed and directed epidemiologic studies to evaluate pregnancy prevention efforts as part of risk management programs associated with isotretinoin (Accutane and others) and thalidomide (Thalomid), and designed the Slone Survey. Dr. Mitchell is the author of numerous publications in the fields of pediatric and birth defects pharmacoepidemiology and serves on many editorial boards and advisory committees.
Recent Publications
The following are Dr. Mitchell’s 25 most recent publications:
- Petersen JM, Parker SE, Crider KS, Tinker SC, Mitchell AA, Werler MM. One-carbon cofactor intake and neural tube defect risk among women meeting folic acid recommendations: a multi-center case-control study. Am J Epidemiol 2019;188(6):1136-43. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwz040. PMCID: PMC6545279.
- Tinker SC, Reefhuis J, Bitsko RH, Gilboa SM, Mitchell AA, Tran EL, Werler MM, Broussard CS. Use of benzodiazepine medications during pregnancy and potential risk for birth defects, National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997-2011. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol 2019;111(10):613-20. doi: 10.1002/bdr2.1497.
- Kerr SM, Van Bennekom CM, Mitchell AA. Risk factors for congenital microcephaly in the pre-Zika era. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol 2019;111(2):96-118. doi: 10.1002/bdr2.1443.
- Petersen JM, Mitchell AA, Van Bennekom C, Werler MM. Validity of maternal recall of gestational age and weight at birth: comparison of structured interview and medical records. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 2019;28(2):269-73. doi: 10.1002/pds.4699.
- Weber K, Yang W, Carmichael S, Lupo P, Dukhovny S, Yazdy MM, Lin A, Van Bennekom CM, Mitchell AA, Shaw G. An application of data mining to identify potential risk factors for anophthalmia and microphthalmia. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 2018;32(6):545-55. doi: 10.1111/ppe.12509.
- Ephross SA, Mitchell AA, Sacks S, Straus W, Stürmer T. Principles and considerations for effective academia-industry collaboration in pharmacoepidemiology [editorial]. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 2018;27(11):1153-6. doi: 10.1002/pds.4644.
- Parker SE, Van Bennekom CM, Anderka M, Mitchell AA, and the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Ondansetron for treatment of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy and the risk of specific birth defects. Obstet Gynecol 2018;132(2):385-94. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000002679.
- Dukhovny S, Van Bennekom CM, Gagnon DR, Hernández-Díaz S, Parker SE, Anderka M, Werler MM, Mitchell AA. Metformin in the first trimester and risks for specific birth defects in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol 2018;110(7):579-86. doi: 10.1002/bdr2.1199.
- Kerr SM, Parker SE, Mitchell AA, Tinker SC, Werler MM. Periconceptional maternal fever, folic acid intake, and the risk for neural tube defects. Ann Epidemiol 2017;27(12):777-82.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2017.10.010.
- Kerr S, Van Bennekom CM, Liang JL, Mitchell AA. Tdap (tetanus and diphtheria toxoids and acellular pertussis) vaccination coverage during pregnancy — selected sites, United States, 2006 through 2015. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2017;66(41):1105-8. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6641a3.
- Chambers C, Xu R, Mitchell AA. Commentary on: “Association of spontaneous abortion with receipt of inactivated influenza vaccine containing H1N1pdm09 in 2010-11 and 2011-12″ [editorial]. Vaccine 2017;35(40):5323-4. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2017.08.038.
- Rhodes ET, Vernacchio L, Mitchell AA, Fischer C, Giacalone P, Ludwig DS, Ebbeling CB. A telephone intervention to achieve differentiation in dietary intake: a randomized trial in pediatric primary care. Pediatr Obes 2016. doi: 10.1111/ijpo.12171. PMCID: PMC5529253.
- Kerr S, Van Bennekom CM, Mitchell AA. Influenza vaccination coverage during pregnancy — selected sites, United States, 2005–06 through 2013–14 influenza vaccine seasons. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016;65(48):1370-73. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6548a3.
- Louik C, Kerr S, Van Bennekom CM, Chambers C, Jones KL, Schatz M, Mitchell AA. Safety of the 2011-12, 2012-13, and 2013-14 seasonal influenza vaccines in pregnancy: preterm delivery and specific malformations. Vaccine 2016;34(37):4450-9. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.06.078.
- Chambers C, Johnson D, Xu R, Luo Y, Louik C, Mitchell AA, Schatz M, Jones KL, and the OTIS Collaborative Research Group. Safety of the 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, and 2013-14 seasonal influenza vaccines in pregnancy: birth defects, spontaneous abortion, preterm delivery, and small for gestational age infants. Vaccine 2016;34(37):4443-9. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.06.054.
- Mitchell AA. Research challenges for drug-induced birth defects [commentary]. Clin Pharmacol Ther 2016;100(1):26-8. doi: 10.1002/cpt.374.
- Darling AM, Mitchell AA, Werler MM. Preconceptional iron intake and gestational diabetes mellitus. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2016;13(6):E525. doi: 10.3390/ijerph13060525. PMCID: PMC4923982.
- Benedum CM, Yazdy MM, Parker SE, Mitchell AA, Werler MM. Association of clomiphene and assisted reproductive technologies on the risk for neural tube defects. Am J Epidemiol 2016;183(11):977-87. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwv322. PMCID: PMC4887580.
- Public Policy Committee, International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology. Guidelines for good pharmacoepidemiology practice (GPP). Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 2016;25:2-10. doi: 10.1002/pds.3891.
- Simeone RM, Feldkamp ML, Reefhuis J, Mitchell AA, Gilboa SM, Honein MA, Iskander J. CDC Grand Rounds: understanding the causes of major birth defects — steps to prevention. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2015;64(39):1104-7. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6439a3.
- Benedum CM, Yazdy MM, Mitchell AA, Werler MM. Impact of periconceptional use of nitrosatable drugs on the risk of neural tube defects. Am J Epidemiol 2015;182(8):675-84. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwv126.
- Louik C, Werler MM, Anderka M, Mitchell AA. Application of data screening to drug exposure in large risk factor studies of birth defects. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol 2015;103(8):713-7. doi: 10.1002/bdra.23407.
- Mitchell AA, Louik C, Chambers C, Jones KL, Schatz M. Immunization surveillance systems for pregnant women [letter to the editor]. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 2015;24:669. doi: 10.1002/pds.3784.