SKCC’s Dr. Edith Mitchell Named Enterprise Vice President for Cancer Disparities

Edith P. Mitchell, MD, MACP, FCCP, FRCP (London), Director of the Center to Eliminate Cancer Disparities and Clinical Professor of Medicine and Medical Oncology, has been named Enterprise Vice President for Cancer Disparities at Jefferson Health’s Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center.

In her new role, Mitchell will be responsible for developing and coordinating operations for cancer care disparities across the Jefferson Enterprise, overseeing a team focused on the quality and cost effectiveness of cancer care, patient-oriented outcomes, as well as identifying and eliminating barriers to care, especially those related to racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities and the social determinants of health. 

Mitchell joined Jefferson in 1995, and has held numerous leadership positions, including SKCC’s Associate Director for Cancer Disparities and Program Leader of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Program. She also serves as SKCC’s Principal Investigator for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Lead Academic Participating Site (LAPS) Program, one of 32 program recipients throughout the United States. Throughout her career, she has prioritized individuals in medically underserved communities. Her research examines the ethnic, socioeconomic, and other factors affecting clinical trial participation and barriers to accrual among minorities, as well as novel drug evaluation, chemoradiation strategies, new therapeutic regimens, supportive care, and patient selection criteria for clinical trials in breast, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers, and other GI malignancies. In addition to her myriad contributions to medicine and health disparities research, Mitchell is a retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General – the first woman physician to attain the rank in history – and has been awarded more than 15 military service medals and ribbons, including the Legion of Merit, Air Force Achievement and Commendation Medals, and the Humanitarian Service Medal.

As Enterprise Vice President for Cancer Disparities, Mitchell will design an agenda for cancer disparities research that is aligned with SKCC and Jefferson goals for areas including screening, geriatric oncology, health economics, survivorship, and prevention and risk reduction, as well as participate in Jefferson-wide efforts to develop a data model and research platform supporting disparities research. Working with SKCC’s basic scientists, clinical and translational researchers, and population scientists, Mitchell will develop a strong portfolio of research trials, grants, and publications.

“Dr. Mitchell has had an extraordinary career dedicated to eliminating health disparities affecting too many individuals and communities in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Her work with community health providers has increased minority participation in clinical trials and she has brought cancer screening to neighborhoods lacking access to preventive care,” said Andrew Chapman, DO, Director of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center and EVP of Oncology Services at Jefferson Health. “Dr. Mitchell’s expertise and devotion to health equity is invaluable to the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in our commitment to deliver high quality cancer care across the region.”

In addition to her leadership roles within SKCC and Jefferson, Mitchell served as the 116th President of the National Medical Association and was appointed member of the President’s Cancer Panel from 2019-2023. She was selected for the NCI’s Blue Ribbon Panel to advise the National Cancer Advisory Board on then-Vice President Joe Biden’s National Cancer Moonshot Initiative, and the NIH Council of Councils. Additionally, Mitchell has served on numerous committees for the NCI, ECOG-ACRIN, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), NRG Oncology, and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

Throughout her career, Mitchell’s achievements have been recognized through many honors, including the AACR Jane Cooke Wright, MD Lectureship, ASCO’s Humanitarian Award, the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Control Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Jefferson’s 2018 Achievement Award in Medicine, the Octavius Valentine Catto Award for community service in the City of Philadelphia, and the 2016 Historically Black College Alumnus of the Year. She has been inducted into the National Historical Black College Hall of Fame and as an honorary member of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.

Mitchell received her bachelor’s degree from Tennessee State University in Nashville and attended medical school at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, during which time she entered the Air Force receiving a commission through the Health Professions Scholarship Program. She entered active duty following an internship and residency at Meharry Medical College in Nashville and a fellowship at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.