Amy Wagner, MD

Clinically, Dr. Wagner is a Brain Injury Medicine physiatrist consultant during acute hospitalization at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and treats patients with neurological conditions and injuries during inpatient rehabilitation at the UPMC Rehabilitation Institute.

Dr. Wagner is a leading investigator in the use of biomarkers developing prognostic models and clinical decision algorithms as well as optimizing individualized treatment outcomes, in an effort to “personalized rehabilitation medicine.” She has coined the term “Rehabilomics” to define this relatively new field of study that involves clinical and preclinical studies involving rehabilitation-relevant biomarkers as related to function, prognosis, treatment, and recovery. 

Her research also focuses on the neurobiology of neuroplasticity and recovery after TBI and how commonly used therapeutic agents impact neurobiological and neurobehavioral processes associated with neuroplasticity and recovery. She is especially focused on dopaminergic systems and brain injury recovery, and her experimental TBI work also includes the study of rehabilitation relevant cognitive training paradigms to better understand the substrates and mechanisms of learning and memory recovery. Dr. Wagner has published more than 110 peer reviewed manuscripts and has over 140 abstracts on her research. Her extensive transdisciplinary and translational research portfolio of federally funded research (including National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control, The Department of Education, and the Department of Defense) has garnered, to date, over $11 million as a principal investigator for traumatic brain injury (TBI) research.

Board Certifications
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Brain Injury Medicine

Research and Clinical Interests: Brain injuries, biomarkers, cognition disorders, dopamine receptors and agents, electrochemistry genetics cognitive training, gender and hormones, post-traumatic conditions, neuroendocrine dysfunction

Dr. Wagner's publications are indexed in PubMed