Brian Wells Pence

Brian Wells Pence is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He concurrently serves as Associate Director of the Division of Global Mental Health in the Department of Psychiatry, Member of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, and Affiliate Faculty of the Injury Prevention Research Center at UNC.

Dr. Pence's academic credentials include:

• PhD in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2005)
• MPH in Epidemiology from Columbia University (2000)
• BA in Economics from Yale University (1996)

His research program centers on three interconnected domains: global mental health interventions for vulnerable populations, intersections between mental illness and health crises (HIV/opioid epidemics), and suicide prevention. Methodologically, he integrates implementation science, advanced epidemiologic methods for observational data, and large administrative datasets to address critical gaps in mental health service delivery. Current NIH-funded projects include SHARP (NIMH U19) scaling depression treatment in Malawian primary care, TRACE (NIMH R34) addressing mental health in HIV care across the southern US, and INSPIRE (NIMH R01) establishing North Carolina's suicide surveillance system.

Analysis of Dr. Pence's key publications (2005-2014) reveals consistent focus on trauma-mental health-HIV syndemics across diverse settings (US, Malawi, Tanzania, Cameroon). His work demonstrates how depression and trauma undermine HIV treatment adherence while pioneering implementation strategies to integrate mental health services into infectious disease care. Recurring methodological themes include validation of screening tools in resource-limited contexts and causal pathway analysis of mental health comorbidities.

Dr. Pence directs the NIAID T32 pre- and postdoctoral training program in infectious diseases epidemiology and serves as associate director for research of the NIMH D43 mental health training program for Malawian scientists. His grant portfolio comprises multiple NIH mechanisms including R01, R34, R21, U19, and T32 awards supporting implementation research across the mental health-HIV-opioid continuum.

His research infrastructure spans the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, Injury Prevention Research Center, and Gillings Innovation Labs. Key collaborations include the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Partnership (SHARP) with Malawian institutions and the Coping with HIV/AIDS in the Southeast (CHASE) cohort study across the southeastern US, reflecting his transnational approach to mental health implementation science.