Assistant Research Professor

Department: Institute for Applied AI Innovation

Dr. Khodeza Begum Mitchell is a computational scientist and bioinformatics researcher at the Institute for Applied AI Innovation (AAII) at The University of Texas at El Paso. She develops computational methods and research tools for analyzing biological sequences and integrating biomedical data. Her work combines machine learning, genomic and transcriptomic analysis, and database development to investigate questions in cancer and chronic disease. She co-developed GPCR-PEnDB, a database of protein sequences and derived features that supports the prediction and classification of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), and contributed to computational analysis of ligand-binding relationships across GPCR families. Her current research expands GPCR-PEnDB through AI-assisted integration of published evidence on GPCR-cancer associations, with preliminary findings presented at the RCMI 2026 conference.

Dr. Mitchell’s collaborative research spans genomic variant prioritization, non-coding RNA expression, and molecular pathways associated with disease and treatment response. She has contributed to studies of thyroid cancer, Chagas cardiomyopathy, and an integrative variant-scoring method for identifying candidate genes associated with ovarian and thyroid cancer. Her work also includes analysis of behavioral, physiological, and inflammatory data in a university population along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Dr. Mitchell develops computational infrastructure and reproducible workflows for biological sequence analysis, genomic variant interpretation, and transcriptomics, supporting biomedical data integration and the development of searchable research resources and interactive visualizations. She has delivered hands-on bioinformatics training in containerized workflows and genomic variant analysis and is a listed member of the NIH-supported DAIR³ (Data and AI Intensive Research with Rigor and Reproducibility) program.

Other Affiliations: Border Biomedical Research Center (BBRC), Computational Science Program at UTEP, Bioinformatics Program at UTEP, DAIR³ Program

Keywords of Expertise: Computational Genomics, Bioinformatics, Machine Learning, Data Analytics, Reproducible Research Workflows, Protein Classification.