Basic Information
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Madeline Mari “Maddie” Lagina |
| Profession | Physician |
| Medical specialty | Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine |
| Role | Clinician–educator and researcher |
| Based in | Michigan, USA |
| Known for | Academic work in critical care and a low public profile outside of medicine |
| Family connections | Daughter of Marty Lagina, niece of Rick Lagina, sister of Alex Lagina |
| TV involvement | Not a cast member of The Curse of Oak Island |
| Public persona | Focused on patient care, teaching, and research rather than media |
A Career Built in the ICU
Maddie Lagina charted a course far from TV cameras and closer to ventilators, rounds, and research meetings. After completing undergraduate studies in the early 2010s and earning a medical degree later that decade, she trained in internal medicine and then pursued fellowship training in pulmonary and critical care medicine in the early-to-mid 2020s. By the mid-2020s, she had transitioned into an academic post at a university-affiliated health system in Michigan, where she cares for critically ill patients, teaches residents and fellows, and co-authors research.
Her clinical focus spans acute respiratory failure, sepsis, and longitudinal recovery after ICU stays. In conference rooms and journal pages, she contributes to questions that ripple through modern medicine: how to improve outcomes for patients with severe lung disease, how to reduce disparities in who receives advanced ICU care, and how clinicians themselves can sustain meaning and connection in a demanding field. The through line is practical empathy—the kind that translates evidence into bedside decisions at 2 a.m.
Family Ties: The Laginas, On and Off the Island
To most TV viewers, “Lagina” evokes Oak Island’s tidal flats and treasure-hunting lore. To Maddie, it’s simply family. Her father, Marty Lagina, is a mechanical engineer and entrepreneur whose renewable energy work and Mari Vineyards preceded his role as executive producer and co-star of The Curse of Oak Island (premiered 2014). Her uncle, Rick Lagina, is the show’s dogged co-lead, the former postal worker whose curiosity became a pop-culture saga. Her older brother, Alex Lagina, appears regularly on the series and has been involved in family ventures.
Beyond the marquee names are the relatives who knit the clan together. Aunts and cousins participate in family businesses and, in some cases, the show’s production. Peter Fornetti, a nephew to Marty and Rick and a cousin to Maddie, has appeared on camera and worked behind the scenes. The family’s public footprint is sizable; Maddie’s, by design, is not. She attends to lives in crisis rather than legends in the soil.
Family Snapshot
| Family Member | Relation to Maddie | Notable For |
|---|---|---|
| Marty Lagina | Father | Engineering, renewable energy, Mari Vineyards, Oak Island co-star/producer |
| Rick Lagina | Uncle | Oak Island co-lead and explorer |
| Alex Lagina | Brother | Appearances on Oak Island; involvement in family ventures |
| Peter Fornetti | Cousin | On-screen appearances and production work with Oak Island |
Research and Teaching Highlights
Academic clinicians measure impact in patient lives and published lines. In recent years, Maddie’s work has explored:
- Post-ICU recovery and the value of reconnecting with survivors after critical illness.
- Equity in critical care, including who gets access to advanced ICU interventions.
- Practical frameworks for diagnosing and managing acute respiratory failure.
- The well-being and “sources of joy” that sustain medical educators.
She has presented and published alongside colleagues, contributed to medical education initiatives, and mentored trainees navigating their first intubations, first code blues, and first-authored manuscripts. It’s the quiet architecture of academic medicine: brick by brick, study by study, learner by learner.
Life Outside the Limelight
For a surname that trends on fan forums, Maddie’s digital shadow is small. She avoids TV, keeps a modest presence on social platforms, and shares little about her personal life. Colleagues describe a team-centered physician who values the ordinary rhythms—clinic days, teaching conferences, family gatherings in Michigan—over curated online narratives.
Art and literature tuck into the corners: sketchbooks, poetry lines recited like mantras between ICU pages. It’s a counterweight to alarm bells and oxygen saturation graphs, the human ballast that keeps professional intensity from capsizing the person behind the N95.
How She Differs From the Family Brand
Every well-known family contains multiple stories. The Laginas’ is often told through drones swooping over marshland and excavators biting into peat. Maddie’s version is told through rounds lists and risk ratios, through small triumphs—extubating a patient who wasn’t expected to breathe on their own again, teaching a trainee how to break bad news with dignity.
She does not chase artifacts; she chases better outcomes. Where Oak Island traffics in centuries-old mysteries, her world is measured in minutes and milliliters, in the alchemy of science and compassion that ICU work demands. It’s a different kind of discovery, no less exacting.
Timeline
| Year/Period | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1990s | Born and raised in Michigan |
| Early 2010s | Completes undergraduate studies |
| Late 2010s | Earns medical degree; begins internal medicine residency |
| Early 2020s | Completes residency and begins pulmonary/critical care fellowship |
| Mid-2020s | Joins a university-affiliated health system in Michigan as a clinician–educator and researcher |
| 2024–2025 | Contributes to studies on ICU care disparities, post-ICU survivor reconnection, and medical educator well-being |
What She’s Not
- She is not a regular on The Curse of Oak Island and has not sought screen time.
- She is not building a personal brand around her surname.
- She is not involved in public speculation about family fortunes or TV finds.
The restraint is intentional. Fame is a floodlight; medicine prefers a headlamp—focused, functional, and aimed at the task in front of you.
Frequently Noted Themes in Her Work
- Patient-centered recovery after critical illness, including follow-up beyond discharge.
- Practical ICU protocols that balance evidence with real-world constraints.
- Teaching frameworks that help trainees grow from uncertainty to competence.
- Attention to equity, ensuring advanced care reaches those who need it most.
FAQ
Is Maddie Lagina on The Curse of Oak Island?
No. She is not a cast member and keeps her professional life separate from the show.
What does Maddie Lagina do for a living?
She is a physician specializing in pulmonary and critical care medicine, working in an academic medical setting in Michigan.
Does she appear in media or public events?
Rarely; her public presence centers on academic work, not television or publicity.
Is she married?
There is no verified public information indicating marriage or a partner.
Where does she live?
She is based in Michigan, close to her work and family.
What are her research interests?
Critical care outcomes, equity in ICU access, post-ICU recovery, and medical education.
Is her net worth known?
No. She is a private individual; financial details are not publicly disclosed.
How is she related to Marty, Rick, and Alex Lagina?
She is Marty’s daughter, Rick’s niece, and Alex’s younger sister.
Has she worked at Mari Vineyards or family energy ventures?
No public record indicates professional roles in those businesses; her career is in medicine.
What sets her apart within the Lagina family story?
She chose clinical medicine and academia over television and treasure hunting, contributing through patient care, teaching, and research.
