Anne Marie Wells
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Anne Marie Wells is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases at UT San Antonio Health Science Center, where she works under the mentorship of Dr. Agustin Ruiz. Dr. Wells is a physician-scientist in training whose research focuses on how genetic variation shapes risk, heterogeneity, and clinical trajectories in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Her work integrates large-scale genomic data with electronic health records to characterize phenotypic variability and identify modifiers of disease expression, with the goal of advancing more precise and clinically meaningful models of brain disease.
Dr. Wells received her Bachelor of Arts from Rice University and her Master of Science from Boston University. She completed her PhD studies in the Neuroscience Discipline of the Integrated Biomedical Sciences (IBMS) program at UT San Antonio Health Science Center. She is currently completing her training in an MD-PhD program, having finished the PhD phase with plans for returning to clinical training. Her academic work is grounded in both quantitative and clinical disciplines, with a focus on bridging large-scale data science approaches and patient-centered insights in medicine.
In addition to her research, Dr. Wells is deeply committed to mentorship and equity in science, with a particular focus on supporting students from underrepresented backgrounds in pursuing careers in medicine and research.
Outside of her academic work, Dr. Wells enjoys writing, mentoring students, and engaging in conversations about science, medicine, and the broader human experience.
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Professional Background
Education
- 2016 - BA - Pre-Med, Latin American Studies - Rice University
- 2020 - MS - Medical Sciences, Neuroscience - Boston University
- 2025 - PhD - Neuroscience - UT San Antonio Health Science Center
Honors
- 2025 - Department of Pharmacology Matthew P. Rowan Student of the Year
- 2025 - IIMS Community Engagement Hero Award for Outstanding Student
- 2021 - Young Scientist Editor’s Choice Award, Brain Structure & Function
- 2024-Present - Ruth L. Kirschstein Individual Predoctoral NRSA (F30), NIMH (Grant #F30MH134482), Principal Investigator ($252,000; 3rd percentile)
- 2023-2024 - Training in Translational Sciences T32 (CTSA), Predoctoral Trainee (Grant #T32TR004545)
- 2022-2024 - Neuroscience Scholars Program Fellowship, Society for Neuroscience (Grant #R25NS089462)
- 2022-2023 - Training in Graduate Neurosciences T32, Predoctoral Trainee (Grant #T32NS082145)
- 2021-2022 - Brackenridge Endowed MD-PhD Scholar Award, Long School of Medicine
- 2020-2021 - South Texas Medical Scientist Training Program T32, Preclinical Trainee (Grant #T32GM113896/T32GM145432)
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Research
- Neurogenetics of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders
- Psychiatric and genetic epidemiology using large-scale biobank data
- Phenotypic heterogeneity and variable penetrance in genetic disorders
- Rare variant analysis, including copy number variants (CNVs) and gene burden
- Integration of polygenic risk scores (PRS) with rare genetic variation
- Electronic health record (EHR)-based phenotyping and longitudinal disease modeling
- Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), including genetic risk modifiers
- Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and neurodegenerative disease subtyping
- Neurodevelopmental disorders and gene dosage effects
- Gene regulatory networks and downstream effects of genetic variation
- Myelination, white matter structure, and neurobiological mechanisms of disease
- Translational approaches to precision psychiatry and neurology
- Risk stratification, prediction, and early detection of brain disorders
- Health disparities in psychiatric genetics and access to genomic medicine
- Ethical, societal, and clinical implications of human genetics research
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Publications
- Wells, A.M., Rolin, S., et al. (2025). Neuropsychiatric symptoms cluster as primary drivers of Long COVID complexity: A South Texas retrospective cohort study. Frontiers in Neurology.
- Wells, A.M., Takano, T., Tanifuji, T., Kang, G., Esparza, M., Endo, A., Hiramoto, T., Shi, Q., Bhat, M., Hiroi, N. (2025). Tbx1 heterozygosity in the oligodendrocyte lineage has distinct effects on myelinated axons in the fimbria and on behaviors related to neurodevelopmental disorders in mice. bioRxiv (preprint).
- Bowman, M.A., Wells, A.M., et al. (2022). Increased plasma membrane monoamine transporter expression in juvenile mice. Cells, 11(15), 2454.
- Kanakia, K.P., Wells, A.M., et al. (2022). Factors affecting outcomes in geriatric traumatic brain injury in a neurosurgical intensive care unit. World Neurosurgery, 158, e441–e450.
- Wells, A.M., García-Cabezas, M.Á., & Barbas, H. (2020). Topological atlas of the hypothalamus in adult rhesus monkey. Brain Structure & Function, 225, 1777–1803.
- Zhong, Q., Wells, A.M., et al. (2016). Childhood abuse and suicidal ideation in a cohort of pregnant Peruvian women. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, 215(4), 215.