Professional Bio
Mark Wigger, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and attending physician in Advanced Heart Failure-Transplant?at?VUMC and Nashville VA Medical Center. He established the VHVI Comprehensive Heart Failure-Transplant?Outreach?program?in 2006 and?is medical director for the Vanderbilt Comprehensive Advanced Heart Failure Outreach Program.
He completed undergraduate work at University of Tennessee Knoxville and obtained his medical degree from East Tennessee State Quillen College of Medicine.? He trained in internal medicine and nephrology at VUMC.?He completed a second fellowship with special training in advanced heart failure and transplant medicine at the Oregon Health Sciences University and remained on staff at OHSU.
He was recruited to Saint Thomas Hospital as director of both heart and kidney transplant programs from 1991-2005.? He was instrumental in establishing the Advanced Heart Failure clinic at that institution.? He was recruited to Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute in 2006 as medical director for the heart transplant program and held that position until 2018. ?
Dr. Wigger's clinical interests include the fields of immunosuppression, advanced heart failure and cardiac transplantation.?He established numerous supporting programs as well. The most prominent are the Advanced Heart Failure Transplant Fellowship, pediatric transition to adult program, advanced antibody desensitization program and comprehensive heart failure outreach to regional academic and private?practice centers. These regional academic and private practices were without advanced therapies?available,?and his leadership brought these therapies to rural Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky and Indiana where he established clinics. ?
Dr. Wigger's scientific and clinical interests have been in identifying non-invasive measures in heart transplant rejection with translational and gene expression biomarkers, including Luminex? technology identifying donor specific antibodies,?AlloMap?Gene Expression testing, and currently cell free donor DNA.
He is an active member of the American Transplant Society, International Society of Heart Transplantation, Tennessee Donor Services and other professional communities and boards. He is active in education of fellows, residents and students, as well local health care societies.
Relevant Links
Publications
Education
MS - Zoology - Tennessee State University, 1979
MD - East Tennessee State University, 1984
Internship - Medicine/Pediatrics - East Tennessee State University, 1985
Residency - Int Med - Vanderbilt University, 1987
Fellowship - Nephrology - Vanderbilt University, 1989
Fellowship - transplant medicine - Oregon Health & Science University, 1990
Contact
Email
Kimryn.Rathmell@Vumc.Org
Address
777 Preston Research Building
2220 Pierce Ave
Nashville, TN 37232-6307