Cure Alzheimer's Fund: Targeting Breakthrough Research

Dr. Wagner joined the Department of Neurosciences in the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego in June of 2009.  Prior to that Dr. Wagner co-founded TorreyPines Therapeutics, then named Neurogenetics, in 2000 serving as its Chief Scientific Officer for nine years.  Previously, Dr. Wagner was the Director of Protein Biochemistry at SIBIA Neurosciences from 1991-1999.  He served as the program head of SIBIA’s Alzheimer’s disease drug discovery collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). This collaboration resulted in the first gamma-secretase inhibitor for Alzheimer’s disease to reach the clinic.  Dr. Wagner was a member of SIBIA’s Strategic Planning and Drug Discovery Steering Committees and a member of the Joint Steering Committee between SIBIA and BMS.  Dr. Wagner is an inventor on numerous patents and patent applications and has published over 50 chapters and research papers in the top scientific journals.  Prior to leading SIBIA’s Alzheimer’s disease drug discovery efforts, Dr. Wagner was a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of California at Irvine where he co-authored the initial purification and identification of the human amyloid precursor protein (APP).  Dr. Wagner received his B.S. in chemistry from Bellarmine College and received his M.S. and Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Health Sciences Center at the University of Louisville School of Medicine.