Derek Wiggins graduated from the University of Alabama with a B.S. in Biology and an M.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology. While at Alabama, he worked as an undergraduate and graduate student in the lab of Dr. Ed Stephenson studying proteins involved in the development of the Drosophila oocyte.
After graduate school, Wiggins worked for five years at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the Center for Human Genetics Research and the Department of Stem Cell Biology. His work mainly focused on the design and creation of transgenic mouse models. Wiggins' work focused on utilizing Crispr-CAS technology gene-editing technology in this area.
He left VUMC in 2016 for the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to gain experience in human clinical trials and worked at UAB’s Center for Exercise Medicine in the lab of Dr. Marcas Bamman studying muscle biology and exercise’s role in both acute and chronic diseases. This experience developed Derek’s passion for working in translational medicine set the course for his return to VUMC to join the Center for Asthma Research.