Jennifer Mitchell, PhD
Professor
Neurology
School of Medicine

Dr. Mitchell's current work is focused on identifying and developing novel therapeutics for drug and alcohol abuse, PTSD, stress, anxiety, impulsivity, and depression and on understanding the neural mechanisms responsible for these disorders. She conducts translational neuroscience research that rests at the intersection of psychology, behavioral pharmacology, and neuroanatomy.

Over the past few years, Dr. Mitchell has worked on the development of psychedelic therapeutics for a range of psychiatric conditions including MDMA for PTSD and psilocybin for demoralization and depression. She is a member of the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics and the UCSF Neuroscape Psychedelics Division and has extensive and diverse experience with human and animal pharmacology, hypothesis-driven neuroscience, human proof-of-concept studies, translational models, and clinical trials.

DoD Awarded Grants: W81XWH-14-2-0143 Institute for Translational Neuroscience 2013 W81XWH-13-2-0075 Institute for Translational Neuroscience 2012 W81XWH-12-2-0048 Institute for Translational Neuroscience 2011 W81XWH-11-2-0145 Institute for Translational Neuroscience 2010 W81XWH-07-1-0431 Human Functional Imaging of Central Nervous System Opioids in Alcohol Reward 2007

• Commentary: Evidence-Informed Recommendation to Achieve Approximate Parity in the Allowed Number of Doses for Common Psychedelics.
  Journal of psychoactive drugs 2023 Thomas KL, Jesse R, Mehtani NJ, Mitchell JM, Anderson BT
• Learning from addiction: Craving of prescription opioids in chronic pain sufferers.
  Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews 2022 Strigo IA, Murphy E, Mitchell JM, Spadoni AD
• Correction: Updated cost-effectiveness of MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder in the United States: Findings from a phase 3 trial.
  PloS one 2022 Marseille E, Mitchell JM, Kahn JG
• Updated cost-effectiveness of MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder in the United States: Findings from a phase 3 trial.
  PloS one 2022 Marseille E, Mitchell JM, Kahn JG
• The effects of MDMA-assisted therapy on alcohol and substance use in a phase 3 trial for treatment of severe PTSD.
  Drug and alcohol dependence 2022 Nicholas CR, Wang JB, Coker A, Mitchell JM, Klaire SS, Yazar-Klosinski B, Emerson A, Brown RT, Doblin R
• Reply to: Caution at psychiatry's psychedelic frontier and Challenges with benchmarking of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.
  Nature medicine 2021 Mitchell J, Coker A, Yazar-Klosinski B
• MDMA-assisted therapy for severe PTSD: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 study.
  Nature medicine 2021 Mitchell JM, Bogenschutz M, Lilienstein A, Harrison C, Kleiman S, Parker-Guilbert K, Ot'alora G M, Garas W, Paleos C, Gorman I, Nicholas C, Mithoefer M, Carlin S, Poulter B, Mithoefer A, Quevedo S, …
• The catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor tolcapone modulates alcohol consumption and impulsive choice in alcohol use disorder.
  Psychopharmacology 2020 Coker AR, Weinstein DN, Vega TA, Miller CS, Kayser AS, Mitchell JM
• Enhancing prolonged exposure therapy for PTSD among veterans with oxytocin: Design of a multisite randomized controlled trial.
  Contemporary clinical trials 2020 Flanagan JC, Mitchell JM, Baker NL, Woolley J, Wangelin B, Back SE, McQuaid JR, Neylan TC, Wolfe WR, Brady KT
• Augmenting Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Co-Occurring Conditions with Oxytocin.
  Current treatment options in psychiatry 2019 Flanagan JC, Mitchell JM
• Differentiation of primate primordial germ cell-like cells following transplantation into the adult gonadal niche.
  Nature communications 2018 Sosa E, Chen D, Rojas EJ, Hennebold JD, Peters KA, Wu Z, Lam TN, Mitchell JM, Sukhwani M, Tailor RC, Meistrich ML, Orwig KE, Shetty G, Clark AT
• Dopamine, time perception, and future time perspective.
  Psychopharmacology 2018 Mitchell JM, Weinstein D, Vega T, Kayser AS
• Right inferior frontal cortex activity correlates with tolcapone responsivity in problem and pathological gamblers.
  NeuroImage. Clinical 2016 Kayser AS, Vega T, Weinstein D, Peters J, Mitchell JM
• Intranasal Oxytocin Selectively Modulates Social Perception, Craving, and Approach Behavior in Subjects With Alcohol Use Disorder.
  Journal of addiction medicine 2016 Mitchell JM, Arcuni PA, Weinstein D, Woolley JD
• Dopamine, locus of control, and the exploration-exploitation tradeoff.
  Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology 2014 Kayser AS, Mitchell JM, Weinstein D, Frank MJ
• Intra-VTA deltorphin, but not DPDPE, induces place preference in ethanol-drinking rats: distinct DOR-1 and DOR-2 mechanisms control ethanol consumption and reward.
  Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research 2013 Mitchell JM, Margolis EB, Coker AR, Allen DC, Fields HL
• Catechol-O-methyltransferase genotype modulates opioid release in decision circuitry.
  Clinical and translational science 2013 Mitchell JM, O'Neil JP, Jagust WJ, Fields HL
• Dopamine, corticostriatal connectivity, and intertemporal choice.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2012 Kayser AS, Allen DC, Navarro-Cebrian A, Mitchell JM, Fields HL
• Alcohol self-administration, anxiety, and cortisol levels predict changes in delta opioid receptor function in the ventral tegmental area.
  Behavioral neuroscience 2012 Mitchell JM, Margolis EB, Coker AR, Fields HL
• Varenicline decreases alcohol consumption in heavy-drinking smokers.
  Psychopharmacology 2012 Mitchell JM, Teague CH, Kayser AS, Bartlett SE, Fields HL
• The anticonvulsant levetiracetam potentiates alcohol consumption in non-treatment seeking alcohol abusers.
  Journal of clinical psychopharmacology 2012 Mitchell JM, Grossman LE, Coker AR, Messing RO
• Alcohol consumption induces endogenous opioid release in the human orbitofrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens.
  Science translational medicine 2012 Mitchell JM, O'Neil JP, Janabi M, Marks SM, Jagust WJ, Fields HL
• A novel opioid receptor-mediated enhancement of GABAA receptor function induced by stress in ventral tegmental area neurons.
  The Journal of physiology 2011 Margolis EB, Mitchell JM, Hjelmstad GO, Fields HL
• Hematopoietic radiation syndrome in the Gottingen minipig.
  Radiation research 2011 Moroni M, Coolbaugh TV, Lombardini E, Mitchell JM, Moccia KD, Shelton LJ, Nagy V, Whitnall MH
• Vascular access port implantation and serial blood sampling in a Gottingen minipig (Sus scrofa domestica) model of acute radiation injury.
  Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS 2011 Moroni M, Coolbaugh TV, Mitchell JM, Lombardini E, Moccia KD, Shelton LJ, Nagy V, Whitnall MH
• Now or Later? An fMRI study of the effects of endogenous opioid blockade on a decision-making network.
  Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior 2009 Boettiger CA, Kelley EA, Mitchell JM, D'Esposito M, Fields HL
• Delta-opioid receptor expression in the ventral tegmental area protects against elevated alcohol consumption.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2008 Margolis EB, Fields HL, Hjelmstad GO, Mitchell JM
• Naltrexone aversion and treatment efficacy are greatest in humans and rats that actively consume high levels of alcohol.
  Neurobiology of disease 2008 Mitchell JM, Bergren LJ, Chen KS, Rowbotham MC, Fields HL
• Midbrain dopamine neurons: projection target determines action potential duration and dopamine D(2) receptor inhibition.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2008 Margolis EB, Mitchell JM, Ishikawa J, Hjelmstad GO, Fields HL
• Immediate reward bias in humans: fronto-parietal networks and a role for the catechol-O-methyltransferase 158(Val/Val) genotype.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2007 Boettiger CA, Mitchell JM, Tavares VC, Robertson M, Joslyn G, D'Esposito M, Fields HL
• The Asp40 mu-opioid receptor allele does not predict naltrexone treatment efficacy in heavy drinkers.
  Journal of clinical psychopharmacology 2007 Mitchell JM, Fields HL, White RL, Meadoff TM, Joslyn G, Rowbotham MC
• Cholecystokinin is necessary for the expression of morphine conditioned place preference.
  Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior 2006 Mitchell JM, Bergren LJ, Chen KS, Fields HL
• Endogenous opioid blockade and impulsive responding in alcoholics and healthy controls.
  Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology 2006 Mitchell JM, Tavares VC, Fields HL, D'Esposito M, Boettiger CA
• Impulsive responding in alcoholics.
  Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research 2005 Mitchell JM, Fields HL, D'Esposito M, Boettiger CA
• A single injection of the kappa opioid antagonist norbinaltorphimine increases ethanol consumption in rats.
  Psychopharmacology 2005 Mitchell JM, Liang MT, Fields HL
• Locomotor activity predicts acquisition of self-administration behavior but not cocaine intake.
  Behavioral neuroscience 2005 Mitchell JM, Cunningham CL, Mark GP
• Cocaine self-administration selectively decreases noradrenergic regulation of metabotropic glutamate receptor-mediated inhibition in dopamine neurons.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2004 Paladini CA, Mitchell JM, Williams JT, Mark GP
• Modulation of anxiety-like behavior and morphine dependence in CREB-deficient mice.
  Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology 2004 Valverde O, Mantamadiotis T, Torrecilla M, Ugedo L, Pineda J, Bleckmann S, Gass P, Kretz O, Mitchell JM, Schütz G, Maldonado R