Welcome To

The Mitchell Lab!

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR AND FOUNDER

Dr. Caroline Mitchell, ​MD, MPH

Dr. Mitchell is a faculty member in the Vincent Center for ​Reproductive Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston ​and is the director of the Vulvovaginal Disorders Program at the ​Mass General main campus. Dr. Mitchell received her undergraduate ​degree from Harvard college, spent two years in the Peace Corps in ​Southern Africa, then returned to medical school at Harvard. She did ​her OB/Gyn residency training at the University of Washington in ​Seattle, where she also received her MPH degree. She spent seven ​years on faculty at the UW before returning to Boston and Mass ​General in 2014. Dr. Mitchell spends the majority of her time in the ​lab doing translational and basic science research, funded by NIH ​and foundation grants. Her work focuses on the relationship ​between the vaginal microbiota, mucosal immune responses and ​reproductive health.

What We Do

Our current work includes clinical studies, ​translational analyses and experiments at ​the bench to identify key pathways in host-​microbe interactions, and ways to intervene ​to promote vaginal health. Humans are the ​only species with a Lactobacillus-dominant ​vaginal microbiota, thus all of our work ​involves human samples or human cell lines.

One of our primary areas of focus is on vulvovaginal disorders

There are over 10 million office visits yearly for vaginal complaints – and in over 30% of those cases a diagnosis cannot be made. Even when a diagnosis is made, treatment is often ineffective or the benefit is of short duration.

We are collecting samples from healthy women and those with vulvovaginal complaints to allow us to identify novel microbes or immune pathways that might be causing symptoms, and to develop better ways to treat symptoms

Bacterial Vaginosis

Bacterial vaginosis, characterized by a loss of healthy vaginal lactobacillus bacteria, impacts close to 30% of US women and is associated with higher risk for preterm birth, HIV acquisition, and HPV persistence. In addition, persistent, recurrent symptoms can have a significant impact on quality of life. Current treatment strategies of vaginal or oral antibiotics fail achieve a durable cure in 30-60% of women.