The inaugural Mitchell Conference was held in December 1998 in conjunction with the Jean Mitchell Watson Lectureship. The program included Medical Geneticist C. Thomas Caskey, MD; Evolutionary Geneticist Svante Paabo, PhD; Geneticist James D. Watson, PhD, and Evolutionary Biologist Edward O. Wilson, PhD.
Subsequent Mitchell Conferences have been convened to focus discussion on a specific theme of contemporary importance in human genetics research. Each conference has brought in the world's most distinguished and innovative leaders to share their work on the chosen theme.
2025 Exploring the Intersection of Social and Genetic Factors in Genomic Studies and Human Health
Jenny Tung, PhD, Planck Institute. Title: "A proper study for mankind: understanding social interactions and the genome through the lens of other primates."
Elizabeth C. Matsul, MD, MHS, University of Texas at Austin. Title: “Neighborhood Environmental Factors are Major Determinants
of Respiratory Health”
Daphne O. Martschenko, PhD, Stanford. Title: “Thinking Through Risk, Benefit, and Responsibility
in Human Genetics”
Greg Gibson, PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology. Title: “What do polygenic scores have to do with Virtue?”
2023 Discovering the Genetic Origins of Health and Disease: From Cells to Ancient and Modern Populations
David H. Ledbetter, PhD, FACMG, University of Florida. Title: “Formalizing and expanding Human Genetics at the University of Chicago: 1996-present”
Molly Przeworski, PhD, Columbia University. Title: “Why do human mutation rates depend on sex and age?”
Jonathan Pritchard, PhD, Stanford University. Title: “Gene regulation, selection, and the architecture of complex traits”
Francois Spitz, PhD, University of Chicago. Title: “Long-distance genomic interactions in disease and evolution”
Maanasa Raghavan, PhD, University of Chicago. Title: “The power of ancient and modern genomics: Human population histories at the South Asian frontiers”
2017 Realizing the Potential of Individualized Medicine
James Wilson, MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania
Heather Mefford, MD, PhD, University of Washington
Daniel MacArthur, PhD, Harvard University
Nancy Cox, PhD, Vanderbilt University
2015 Everything Old is New Again: Frontiers in Ancient DNA Research
David Reich, PhD, Geneticist, Harvard Medical School
Matthias Meyer, PhD, Biochemist, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Tina Warinner, PhD, Archaeological Geneticist, University of Oklahoma
Alan Cooper, PhD, Evolutionary Molecular Biologist, University of Adelaide
2012 Genetics and Genomics of Stem Cells
Fred Gage, MD, Neurobiologist, Salk Institute
Geoff Rosenfield, MD, Stem Cell Biologist, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Rudolf Jaenisch, MD, Stem Cell Biologist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2007 Epigenetics of Human Biology and Disease
Susan Lindquist, PhD, Molecular Geneticist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Robert Waterland, PhD, Nutritional Geneticist, Baylor College of Medicine
Huda Zoghbi, MD, Neurodevelopmental Geneticist, Baylor College of Medicine
2003 Genetic Influences on Animal and Human Behavior
Jonathan Flint, MD, Psychiatric Geneticist, Oxford University
Emmanuel Mignot, MD, Psychiatrist and Behavioral Biologist, Stanford University
Gene Robinson, PhD, Behavioral Geneticist, University of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign
2001 Cloning and Genetic Technology: Legal, Social and Ethical Implications
Lori Andrews, JD, Legal Scholar, Illinois Institute of Technology, Kent College of Law
Leon R. Kass, MD, PhD, Ethicist, University of Chicago, Committee on Social Thought
Gerald P. Schatten, PhD, Stem Cell Biologist, Oregon Health Sciences University
Lee M. Silver, PhD, Molecular Biologist, Princeton University