by Jill Clendening
Anne Wagner, MD, associate professor of Surgery, has joined Vanderbilt University Medical Center to serve as medical director of the Vanderbilt Burn Center.
Wagner most recently served for six years as medical director of the Burn and Frostbite Center at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, in Aurora, Colorado. The Burn and Frostbite Center has been verified by the American Burn Association since 1998 and is the only verified burn center at a Level 1 Trauma center in the Rocky Mountain region. Wagner also served as an associate professor of Surgery for the Department of Surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
“Dr. Wagner is a national leader in the care of patients with thermal injury, and we are so happy to welcome her to Vanderbilt,” said Seth Karp, MD, H. William Scott Jr. Professor and chair of the Section of Surgical Sciences. “She comes to us with an impressive record running a large, complex program known for clinical excellence. Dr. Wagner is also an outstanding educator who has had a major impact on burn care across the United States.”
Vanderbilt’s Burn Center is a Level 1, 25-bed burn unit that serves as a regional referral center for both adult and pediatric patients. The center has more than 600 admissions a year and 3,000 outpatient visits annually. Patient care is provided through a multidisciplinary team specializing in burn care, and providers include surgeons, anesthesiologists, advance practice nurses, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, social workers, burn technicians, psychiatrists and pharmacists.
These team members work together to manage the complex nature of burn injuries which can require critical care, surgical reconstruction and often long-term rehabilitation. In addition, the Vanderbilt Burn Center serves as a resource center for both referring health care facilities and the community, providing outreach programs, continuing education and ongoing research.
Wagner received her undergraduate degree from North Dakota State University and her medical degree from the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She completed a general surgery residency, a surgical critical care fellowship and a burn surgery fellowship at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. She is board certified in surgery and surgical critical care by the American Board of Surgery.
Wagner is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the American Burn Association, the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, the International Society for Burn Injuries and the Society of Critical Care Medicine. She serves on the American Burn Association’s Research and Education committees and worked with a dedicated sub-group to publish an ABA-supported guideline on the administration of thrombolytics to frostbite patients. Similarly, Wagner is working on a new ABA-supported guideline on the clinical management of frostbite.
She is a national lecturer on the care and management of patients with acute burn and frostbite. Her research has been published in the Journal of Trauma, the Journal of Burn Care and Research, the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery and Burns. Wagner’s recently published studies have included guidelines in the use of thrombolytic therapy for frostbite and a guideline for starting the therapy remotely; early palliative care consultations in the burn unit; the use of a mobile phone app by burn patients to improve adherence to follow-up care; and regional disparities in access to burn center care in the United States.
Wagner is a course director and instructor for Advanced Burn Life Support (ABLS) and Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), as well as a Fundamental Critical Care Support (FCCS) instructor.
“I am thrilled to join Vanderbilt University Medical Center and look forward to working with the Vanderbilt Burn Center’s exceptional team,” Wagner said. “Caring for burn patients is a challenge, not only as patients are stabilized during the acute phase of injury but also as functional and cosmetic issues caused by injuries are addressed and individuals return to their daily activities.
“I am passionate about my patients, and it is my goal to continue to build a strong multidisciplinary burn team, to educate our expanding region on pre-hospital acute burn care and transfer, and to improve the already excellent care the burn patients at Vanderbilt’s Burn Center receive,” Wagner said.