Jamie L. Wells, MD, FAAP Adjunct Professor School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems Office: Bossone 413F Phone: 609.876.7625 Email: jlw488@drexel.edu

Bio

Dr. Wells is an adjunct professor at Drexel University’s School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems. She has a special interest in pediatric engineering, patient safety and optimizing care delivery, bioethics, public health and policy, science communications, medtech innovation, diagnosis and management of disease, identifying healthcare trends, bridging interdisciplinary knowledge gaps to prevent medical error and expedite discovery, thought integration of clinical practice and biomedical engineering approaches with an emphasis on patient-centered design, debunking medical myths and pediatrics.

As Drexel BIOMED spearheads the nation's first degree program in pediatric engineering with no other major program like it in the country, Dr. Wells is especially thrilled to be asked to help establish and build upon expanding Drexel’s global footprint in engineering and innovation for pediatric patients. This interdisciplinary focus allows for breaking down silos which, she believes, facilitates the greatest path toward genuine medical advancement. Dr. Wells is deeply committed to educating, mentoring and career advising the next generation.

Leadership & Experience

Dr. Wells, an RSI alumna, is the newly appointed Director of the Research Science Institute (RSI) collaboratively sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE).

She is an award-winning Board-certified physician with many years of experience caring for patients. Dr. Wells is frequently profiled as a physician leader, most recently by HealthVenture in their series highlighting awe-inspiring women leading transformation in healthcare, the Women In Medicine Legacy Foundation, and Physician Outlook magazine in their #stellardoc campaign during National Physicians’ Week. She served as a Clinical Instructor/Attending at NYU Langone, Mt. Sinai-Beth Israel and St. Vincent's Medical Centers in Manhattan.

Tasked by the Yale Alumni Association Board of Governors, she is President and Founder of the Yale Alumni Health Network (YAHN) whose mission is to serve as a nexus for all health-related disciplines to foster networking and knowledge acquisition to spur innovation and drive development of alumni’s careers - at every stage. YAHN brings together current and future Yale Alumni leaders from all sectors - medical practice, academia, law, finance, technology, engineering, policy, government, entertainment, journalism and beyond - that touch on health. As the director of medicine for an educational advocacy nonprofit in support of evidence-based medicine and science, she did extensive outreach and published over 400 articles informing the public and policymakers on topics widely ranging from drug pricing, bioethics, policy and healthcare trends to disease and tech discovery. As a visiting fellow, her work (eg. podcasts, tv, articles) touched on subjects like getting cancer cures from lab bench to patient bedside to the forgotten children of the opioid epidemic. Her work is broadly read from the general public and academia to the White House. She writes, speaks, consults, is on panels and interviewed as a medical expert on all media platforms.

Dr. Wells is an Ambassador in Healthcare for the Global Blockchain Business Council and on the leadership council of the Wistar Institute - our nation's first independent biomedical research facility and certified cancer center. She was a grant reviewer for Komen's 2018-2019 Community Grants Program and has judged the local, district and world robotics championships for Dean Kamen’s F.I.R.S.T. (For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology) nonprofit.

Background & Honors

Dr. Wells graduated from Yale University with honors, was inducted as a junior and elected President of Jefferson Medical College's Alpha Omega Alpha National Medical Honor Society and was named a New York Super Doctor, repeatedly, in the NY Times magazine supplement listing the top 5% of physicians in over 30 medical specialties as chosen by their peers. She has been awarded America's Top Pediatricians, America’s Top Physicians Honors of Distinction and Excellence, Compassionate Doctors Award, Patients Choice Award (honors given by patients to less than 3% of the nation's 720,000 active physicians) and been recognized for her exemplary care of those with Cystic Fibrosis. Dr. Wells was named a Doctor of Excellence which profiles the world’s leading doctors who have demonstrated success and leadership in their profession. For the better part of a decade, she answered all of the medical inquiries online for the Boomer Esiason Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's website in a section entitled, ASK DR. WELLS.

A National Merit Scholar, Dr. Wells was identified for her academic excellence early on when she was selected by the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) for its prestigious Research Science Institute (RSI), was featured as one of the top twenty high school students in the nation in USA Today as a recipient of their scholarship and was one of five Americans selected to compete in the International Biology Olympics. At Yale, she was President of the Yale Science and Engineering Association, majored in American Studies and concentrated in media and film, spending her final year researching her senior essay entitled, "Ebola: The Making of an Epidemic"-- exploring the power of the governmental, political, public health and media machines and their desire to work in harmony when there is a common economic concern. In medical school, she maintained various leadership and elected positions (such as Editorials Editor of the school paper and editing guides to passing Board Exams) while creating mentoring and tutoring programs and spearheading countless volunteer activities that served the school and local Philadelphia communities. During this time, she did research for the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus of patients with Essential Tremor and Parkinson's Disease.

Outreach & Media

Whether she is published, for example, in the acclaimed journal Neoreviews for a case involving a near drowning of an infant via water birth, USA Today regarding the mysterious illness of US diplomats in Cuba, the Huffington Post on 10 ways to Save Your Life or the Life of a Loved One or appears on SiriusXM, it is a longstanding passion of hers to make science and health understanding accessible to all. She is dedicated to empowering others to be their own advocate in healthcare and has given talks to audiences ranging from struggling expectant mothers and parenting groups to undergraduates as well as emphasized education to patients under her care. Her many webinars and appearances have a global reach and cover vast topics for a wide array of audiences. Believing she wanted to be a brain surgeon, she began her first residency in neurosurgery, ultimately switching fields to pediatrics. As a result, her knowledge is vast in the medical realm and sought after by innumerable media outlets.

Dr. Wells’ greatest asset is making complicated material palatable for any audience. She champions increased connectivity between disciplines as the optimal path toward genuine innovation. Her unique trajectory of experiences including but not limited to medical practice, educational advocacy, science communications, career advising, mentoring, and fundraising along with her vast professional networks underscores this growth mindset.

Her opinion as a medical expert has been showcased from the medical journal Review of Ophthalmology on electronic health records to other print media, podcasts, live and taped local, national and international television programs that run the gamut from The Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, PBS platform, NBCNews.com to CNN, Fox National News Channel, ABC News, BBC, Reuters, Al Jazeera TV, NY 1, CBS, TLC, Fox Business Network, Fox 5, Parent TV, CUNY-TV, My 9, Arise TV, and so on having been featured in an hour length show on Discovery Health and, repeatedly, on Sirius Radio for Martha Stewart Living. She is a huge proponent of the health benefits of animals and was certified with her adorable and gifted English Bulldog, Mollie Joe, as a therapy team.

Board-certified: American Board of Pediatrics (ABP)

Education

• BA with Honors, Yale University, New Haven, CT
• MD, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA

Research Interests

Pediatric engineering, patient safety and optimizing care delivery, bioethics, public health and policy, science communications, medtech innovation, STEMM education, diagnosis and management of disease, identifying healthcare trends, bridging interdisciplinary knowledge gaps to prevent medical error and expedite discovery, thought integration of clinical practice and biomedical engineering approaches with an emphasis on patient-centered design, debunking medical myths and pediatrics.

Publications

Hirschhorn M, Garven E, Wells JL, Stevens R, Tchantchaleishvili V, Throckmorton AL (2021).The Newly Emerging Field of Pediatric Engineering: Innovation for Our Next Generation. Artificial Organs, 45(6), p. 537-541. DOI: 10.1111/aor.13973