Dr. Wagenaar’s research focuses on the mechanisms of data integration and sustainable scientific collaboration through technology. The challenges of integrating complex scientific data are accompanied by a need for novel, scalable and sustainable software infrastructure to support these efforts. He has worked on multiple platform technologies to support scientific data management, analysis and peer reviewed scientific data distribution at scale with a focus on the FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, Reusability) principles of data sharing.

His academic efforts include 1) the development of scalable HIPAA compliant platform technologies for scientific data management, 2) the development of methods and tools for streaming and analyzing high-bandwidth, high channel count neuroscience time-series data at scale, 3) methods and tools for integrating scientific data and metadata, and 4) statistical modeling of information from populations of sensory neurons.

Dr. Wagenaar leads the development of the Pennsieve data management platform, which is leveraged as the data core for the NIH SPARC initiative and is used broadly by the neuroscience community. Dr. Wagenaar joined the University of Pennsylvania in 2021. In addition to his appointment within the DBEI, he is affiliated with the Center for Neuroengineering and Therapeutics and the Institute for Biomedical Informatics at Penn.