Mark A. Mitchell received his DVM in 1992 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MS in clinical epidemiology (wildlife medicine) from the University of Illinois in 1997. He completed his PhD in clinical epidemiology (Salmonella spp. in reptiles) at Louisiana State University (LSU) in 2001. From 1996-2007, Dr. Mitchell served as a member of the zoological medicine service at LSU, and from 2007-2016 served as a founding member of the zoological medicine service at the University of Illinois. From 2016-2020 he served as the Hospital Director of the LSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
He has now returned full-time to his professorship and is the Director of the Wildlife Hospital of Louisiana. His clinical interests include all species: invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. His research focus is on the conservation of wildlife and improving the quality of life for captive animals. He lectures to veterinary and graduate students on a number of topics, including clinical medicine for zoological/wildlife species, epidemiology, and biostatistics.
Dr. Mitchell has published over 800 book chapters, peer-reviewed articles, scientific abstracts, proceedings, and lay articles. He is a past-president (2000-2001) of the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians, and the first recipient of the ARAV Excellence Award (2016). He has served as the Co-Editor-in Chief of the Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine (2005-2019) and Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery (2009-2021), and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery (2021-present).