Anjanette Wells joined the Brown School faculty in 2008 as a Research Assistant Professor. Broadly, her research interests’ center on health, mental health, and community practice with a common thread of interest in issues related to adherence, participation, recruitment, and retention to medical and mental health research and practice with low-income, minority populations. She is currently focusing her research on low-income, minority cancer patients who dropout of depression treatment. 

Wells began her social work career 15 years ago as a home health social worker. Most of her practice orientation has been in health and mental health settings, community clinics, hospitals, and psychiatric units. While attending the University of Southern California (USC), School of Social Work, she received a NIH/National Cancer Institute Minority Research Supplement and F31 Dissertation Fellowship, and an American Cancer Society Pre-Doctoral Oncology Fellowship. Prior to these awards, she was also awarded a Council for Social Work Education Minority Research Fellowship.

While attending USC, she had the unique opportunity to blend her passion for clinical practice and research, as a depression care therapist on a cancer and depression, and diabetes and depression randomized clinical trial, while also training project assistants, recruiters, and clinical interventionists. She not only became concerned and sensitized about the best ways to meet the needs and address the psychological and social barriers of patients, but also the importance of developing sustaining interventions which help to engage and retain hard-to-reach ill patients and communities. During this time, she produced peer-reviewed research publications, professional conference presentations, and a training manual related research.

Among the organizations to which Anjanette Wells belongs are the National Association of Black Social Workers, the American Cancer Society, the Society for Social Work and Research, and the Council for Social Work Education. In the Fall, 2009, she will begin teaching and continue her research interests, in her role of Assistant Professor at the Brown School.