Our Team
DJ Wells
Executive Director: Detmer (DJ) Wells is the Executive Director of the Mensah Research Institute, as well as the Director of Marketing & Communications for Mensah Medical. Additionally, Wells is an adjunct faculty member at Governors State University in University Park, IL, where he teaches writing and academic research methods classes. He has taught writing at the collegiate level for more than 20 years, and has also led courses on media production, mass communications/media theory, grant writing/fundraising, and literary criticism.
Prior to joining Team Mensah, Wells served as the Executive Director of the Urban Health Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago, an educational pipeline program that looks to address health disparities by preparing, recruiting, supporting and graduating traditionally underrepresented minority students in the health professions. Wells has also spent time heading PR, Marketing, External Affairs, and Communications offices in corporate settings and for several colleges and universities, heading up an international marketing effort for distance learning products, and running the day-to-day operations of a 1,200-seat regional performing arts center.
Wells most prides himself as a staunch and active advocate, serving in key leadership roles of several advocacy groups such as the Black Caucus of Health Workers (a caucus of the American Public Health Association), the Illinois Committee on Black Concerns in Higher Education (ICBCHE), the Illinois African American and Latino Higher Education Alliance (IALHEA), and the Illinois Council for College Attendance (ICCA). Wells earned his Bachelor’s degree in Radio, Television and Film from Northwestern University, and his Masters in Communications from Governors State University.
A.J. Russo, PhD
Director of Research: Dr. A.J. Russo is Director of Research at the Mensah Research Institute, and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology at Drew University in Madison, NJ. He has over 35 years of research and teaching experience. His bachelors’ degree in Biology is from Hobart College in Geneva, NY. His Masters in Biology and Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology are from Roswell Park Memorial Institute, a division of the State University of New York in Buffalo. After graduate school he did post docs as a staff fellow at the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Neurology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Department of Dermatology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, before becoming a professor and researcher at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Maryland. He was the Class of 1964 Endowed Professor before retiring in 2008 to become a research director. His research over the past fifteen years has focused on studying autism and other behavioral disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression.
Albert H. Mensah, MD
President - Board of Directors: Dr. Albert Mensah is co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Mensah Research Institute. He is also the co-founder of Mensah Medical in Warrenville, IL, a clinic that specializes in the treatment of biochemical imbalances, and the cognitive (and physical) disorders caused by those imbalances. As a physician in this specialized field since 2005, Dr. Mensah has treated over 30,000 patients using all-natural, non-pharmaceutical, advanced targeted nutrient therapy. Dr. Mensah’s extensive clinical experience in biochemical imbalances began at the former Pfeiffer Treatment Center under the direction of William J. Walsh, PhD, president of the non-profit Walsh Research Institute. Dr. Mensah currently serves on the board of the Walsh Research Institute, and as a faculty member of the Walsh Research Institute’s International Medical Practitioner Education Program, training doctors around the world in the use of advanced nutrient therapy to treat biological and biochemical imbalances. Dr. Mensah regularly presents at conferences internationally, participates in physician training programs, and consults with other health care professionals.
Recognizing the need for targeted research that explores the power of nutrient therapy in treating illnesses mental and physical, Dr. Mensah and his associate, Dr. Judith Bowman, co-founded the Mensah Research Institute in 2016. Dr. Mensah's personal research and clinical interests include the use of nutrient therapy in the treatment of Breast Cancer and other cancers, as well as schizophrenia. He is particularly focused on MRI's role as a conduit for building collaborations and partnerships, and his combined efforts with researchers from around the world have already led to significant advances, including improved treatments for neurological disorders and protocols for improving comprehensive health.
Dr. Albert Mensah received his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois) and his medical degree from Finch University of Health Sciences-Chicago Medical School. Dr. Mensah’s residency was in Family Medicine at Swedish Covenant Hospital (Chicago). Following residency, he completed additional fellowship training in academic development at John H. Stroger Cook County Hospital (Chicago). He is board certified in integrative pediatrics by the American Association of Integrative Medicine (AAIM). From 2005 to 2008, Dr. Mensah treated patients at the former Pfeiffer Treatment Center. Prior to joining Pfeiffer, Dr. Mensah practiced as a staff physician at Melrose Park Clinic in Melrose Park, Illinois.
Judith Bowman, MD
Vice President - Board of Directors: Judith Bowman, MD, is co-founder and Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Mensah Research Institute. She is a specialist in biochemical imbalances, who received a B.A. from Illinois Wesleyan University and a medical degree from Finch University of Health Sciences-Chicago Medical School. She received her certification and license by the American Registry of Radiologic Technology and board certification in Nuclear Medicine Technology following the completion of her training at Northwestern University’s School of Nuclear Medicine. She utilized her skills in diagnostic imaging and participated in research and development of radio pharmaceuticals. Dr. Bowman completed her residency in family medicine at Resurrection Hospital in Chicago where she also served as chief resident.
After medical school, Dr. Bowman worked as a staff physician for the Lake County Health Department (Illinois) and as the Midwest site staff physician providing medical services for patients with learning disabilities at The Dore Achievement Center in Schaumburg, Illinois. Dr. Bowman co-founded Mensah Medical in 2008 with her colleague, Albert Mensah, MD, and the two of them went on to co-found the Mensah Research Institute in 2016. She currently serves as MRI's lead physician researcher.
Dr. Bowman's work with the Dore Center helped pave the way for more recent, groundbreaking treatment modalities (being explored through MRI and offered through Mensah Medical) for neurological disorders that include ADD/ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Asperger's Syndrome, Auditory and Visual Tracking Disorders, and many more. Her keen capacity for quick analysis and targeted assessment have earned her recognition as an exceptional diagnostician and a world leader on women's and adolescent health issues.