Brent Wagner, MD

Nephrology, Internal Medicine

Biography

Brent Wagner is a native New Mexican and a graduate of the University of New Mexico (1990, 1992), the University of New Mexico Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program (1995), and the University of New Mexico School of Medicine (1999). His residency training was on the American Board of Internal Medicine Research Investigator Pathway at the University of Texas Health System. He is a certified specialist in Internal Medicine and Nephrology. His positions included Clinical Nephrology Fellowship Program Director for the University of Texas Health System and Audie Murphy Memorial VA Hospital staff physician (Renal Section). In 2017 he became a Tenured Associate Professor. In 2018 he returned to his hometown of Albuquerque to assume the role of Renal Section Chief for the New Mexico Veterans Administration Health Care System and the Directorship of the Kidney Institute of New Mexico.

Personal Statement

Brent Wagner studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms of magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent-induced complications. He is a world-renowned expert in nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, gadolinium retention, and nanotoxicology. Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis is a severely disabling and potentially fatal disorder in patients with compromised kidney function. It is associated with exposure to gadolinium, a non-physiologic metal. (Living organisms never contain any element with an f-block electron orbital, e.g., gadolinium.) However, not all exposed patients with renal disease acquire nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. The pathogenesis is entirely unexplored. Fibrotic lesions stain strongly for CD34 and procollagen type I. The theory was that the cellularity was from circulating, bone marrow-derived white blood cells termed “fibrocytes.” Dr. Wagner’s laboratory was the first to prove this experimentally.Furthermore, he was the first to demonstrate that bone marrow possesses a ‘memory’ of gadolinium exposure—fibrosis is more severe in those who have had repeated magnetic resonance imaging contrast administrations.

Since his return to New Mexico, he has recruited a Program Manager (Ms. Julie Harris), a Research Scientist (Dr. G. Patricia Escobar, D.V.M.), a postdoctoral fellow (Dr. Soraya Arzhan, M.D.), a Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program student (Mr. Josh DeAguero), and an exceptionally talented physician-scientist (Dr. Catherine Do, M.D., d., 1983-2022).

By 2017 the Food & Drug Administration warned that all patients exposed to magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents retain gadolinium—a non-physiologic metal—in every vital organ, including the brain. Now there are thousands of members of social media groups focused on the chronic adverse effects of gadolinium-based contrast agents. Dr. Wagner’s research team was ideally situated to embark on human studies in 2020.
A novel pathogen, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS Cov-2), spilled out of Wuhan, Hubei Province of China, in November 2019. The resultant pandemic has been catastrophic. Dr. Wagner mobilized the response at the Raymond G. Murphy Medical Center through compassionate use programs (convalescent plasma), and sponsored trials (Regeneron, Janssen/Johnson & Johnson, Atea Pharmaceuticals, Kintor Pharmaceutical Limited).