Dr. Wells is currently a practicing rheumatologist at the Rheumatology and Immunotherapy Center in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, where he serves as the Director. He also is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science/Chicago Medical School in North Chicago. Prior to returning to private practice, Dr. Wells was an Associate Medical Director at Abbott Laboratories where he played a central role in the launch of HUMIRA. In addition, he maintains his clinical affiliation with Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, where he is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Rheumatology.

Dr. Wells received his MD from the University of South Florida, Tampa and trained in Internal Medicine and in Rheumatology at Duke University, where he was a faculty member before joining Abbott. He received his PhD in Immunology from the University of South Carolina, where he developed an animal model for Reiter’s Syndrome. He was a recipient of the prestigious Fogarty Biomedical Research Award from the National Institutes of Health, which allowed him to undertake a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship at Uppsala University, Sweden, with Dr. Lars Klareskog.

A member of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine and of the American College of Rheumatology, Dr. Wells has over 11 years of research experience, focusing on chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, and the rejection of renal transplants, with an emphasis on connective tissue components, inflammatory mediators, and cytokines. He is the recipient of the 2003 Abbott President’s Award. In 2001, he was honored with the Merck Young Investigator Award, and in 1999 he received the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Distinguished Alumni Award. Dr. Wells is an internationally renowned speaker and researcher and has had research support from the Arthritis Foundation and from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

RECENT SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Wells AF. Anticytokine therapies in rheumatoid arthritis: From the pipette to the patient. Drug Discovery Today: Therapeutic Strategies, 2004;1:293-97.


• Haynes BF, Sempowski GD, Wells AF, et al. The human thymus during aging. Immunol Res 2000;22:253–61.


• Wells AF, Daniels S, Gunasekaran S, et al. Local increase in hyaluroronic acid and interleukin in the capsules surrounding silicone breast implants. Ann Plast Surg 1994;33:1–5.


• Barton D, Blanchard K, Wells AF, et al. Expression of IL-2 receptor a (IL-2a) mRNA and protein in ovarian carcinoma. Anticancer Res 1994;14:761–72.


• Wells AF, Lindblad S, Tengblad A, et al. Hyaluronan localization in arthritic synovia correlates with the presence of proliferating cells. Arthritis Rheum 1992;35:391-–6.


• Dallman MJ, Montgomery RA, Larsen CP, et al. Cytokine gene expression: Analysis using northern blotting, polymerase chain reaction, and in situ hybridization. Immunol Rev 1991;119:163–78.