Mitchell has been the Executive Director of the AVAC since 2004. He leads the organization’s overall program strategy and maintains strategic partnerships with AIDS service organizations, research and development agencies, policy makers, funders, the media and other health advocacy organizations. He has led the expansion of AVAC’s portfolio from HIV vaccines to include expanded advocacy across the R&D delivery of the range of biomedical prevention options; the development, with UNAIDS, of the Good Participatory Practice Guidelines (GPP) for Biomedical HIV Prevention Research; and the establishment of the Product Introduction and Access program.
He was previously the Senior Director for Vaccine Preparedness at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and also spent four years as Vice President and Director of International Affairs for The Female Health Company (FHC), the manufacturer of the female condom, where he directed efforts to design and implement reproductive health programs that integrate the female condom and led global advocacy efforts for expanded commitment to female-initiated prevention methods. Mitchell also spent six years at Population Services International (PSI) designing and implementing social marketing, communications and health promotion activities in Africa, Asia and Europe, including five years running PSI’s project in South Africa.
Mitchell is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the International AIDS Society (IAS) Governing Council and the IAS Towards an HIV Cure Initiative; President of the TB Alliance Stakeholder Association and Past President of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise. In 2013, he helped establish the biennial HIV Research for Prevention conference and was one of the co-chairs for R4P 2020/1. Mitchell has degrees in English and History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and studied health policy at the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health.