- Stroke
- Traumatic brain injury
Penn Medicine Provider
About me
- Founding Director, Recovery of Consciousness Via Evidence-Based Medicine and Research (RECOVER) Program
- Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
- Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care
My education and training
- Harvard Medical SchoolMedical School
- Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women’s HospitalResidency
- Massachusetts General HospitalResidency
- Massachusetts General HospitalFellowship
Spoken languages
English
English
Insurance accepted
Please contact the practice and/or the member services department of your insurance company for specific details before receiving services. Providers may participate in some, but not all, products offered by a health plan; providers may also accept plans at some practice locations but not others.
- Aetna Advantra Cares D-SNP
- Aetna Advantra Credit Value
- Aetna Advantra Eagle HMO
- Aetna Advantra Eagle POS
- Aetna Advantra Premier Plus PPO
- Aetna Advantra Value
- Aetna Advantra Value Plus
- Aetna APCN Plus (Multi-Tier)
- Aetna Better Health Kids (CHIP) - DH Only
- Aetna Flexible Five
- Aetna Freedom Core
- Aetna Gold
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna Philly Prime
- Aetna POS
- Aetna PPO APCN
- Aetna Premier
- Aetna Premier Plus
- Aetna Savings Plus
- Aetna Signature Administrators
- Aetna Student Health Plan PPO
- Aetna Upfront Advantage
- First Health HMO
- First Health POS
- First Health PPO
- Meritain - Aramark (Other)
- Meritain - Aramark (Pennsylvania Premier Medical Plan)
- Americhealth Caritas of PA VIP - LGH Only
- Amerihealth Caritas (Transplant patients only)
- Amerihealth Caritas of PA - LGH Only
- Centivo EPO
- Cigna Healthcare EPO
- Cigna Healthcare HMO
- Cigna Healthcare POS
- Cigna Healthcare PPO
- Claim Watcher (Homestead/ INDECs) Open Access
- Clover Health Choice
- Clover Health Choice Value PPO
- Clover Health Classic HMO
- Clover Health Value
Locations
Penn Medicine hospital privileges
- Chester County Hospital: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
- Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
- Lancaster General Hospital
- Penn Medicine Rittenhouse Long-Term Acute Care Hospital
- Penn Presbyterian Medical Center: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
- Pennsylvania Hospital: On the medical staff, but does not have privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
Dr. Fischer is a Penn Medicine physician.
Qualifications and experience
- Neurology, 2020
- American Academy of Neurology, National
- American Neurological Association, National
- Consciousness Prognostication and Recovery Consortium, International
- Consciousness Prognostication and Recovery Module (Curing Coma Campaign, Neurocritical Care Society), International
- Curing Coma Campaign Scientific Advisory Council, International
- Data and Safety Monitoring Board for In-Hospital Targeted Temperature Management Trial run by Dr. Jean-Baptiste Lascarrou from Médecine Intensive Réanimation, France., International
- Early Career Reviewer Program at the Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health, National
- Israel Science Foundation, International
- Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, Local
- Neurocritical Care Society, International
- Philosophy of Consciousness and Coma Science Module, Epistemological Dimensions Workgroup (Curing Coma Campaign, Neurocritical Care Society), International
- Prospective Studies Workgroup (Curing Coma Campaign, Neurocritical Care Society), International
- Society for Critical Care Medicine Neuroscience Section Research Subcommittee, International
- Society for Critical Care Medicine, International
- Cerebrovascular disease care
- Neurocritical care
- Stroke care
Treatments and conditions
Research
Publications
Molly McDonough The covert consciousness dilemma , Harvard Medicine Magazine: 2026
Boada, C., Allen, M., Gharios, M., Schickler, I., Zeng, M., Fischer, D.* & Kulick-Soper, C.V.* (*co-last authors) Prospective evaluation of a novel EEG-based neurorognostication framework after cardiac arrest , Poster presentation at the American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting; December 2026; Denver, CO.: 2026
Allen, M., Boada, C., Gharios, M., Schickler, I., Zeng, M., Fischer, D.* & Kulick-Soper, C.V.* (*co-last authors) Use of a novel EEG-based neuroprognostication framework to predict clinical outcomes in post cardiac arrest patients , Poster presentation at the American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting; December 2026; Denver, CO.: 2026
Fischer, D., Diringer, M.N., Mudrik, L., Roskies, A., Tang, J. & Young, M.J. The Meaning of Meaning: The Implications of Neural Decoding for Disorders of Consciousness , Neurology: 2026
Rosa, P., Bahti, M., Boivin, C., O'Brien, C., Copeland, J., Halablab, S., Chesley, C., Fischer, D.* & Auriemma, C.* (*co-last authors) Beyond Substituted Judgment: How Surrogates Make Decisions Under Neuroprognostic Uncertainty , Poster presentation at the CHIBE-PAIR Roybal Retreat, Skytop, PA.: 2026
Halablab, S.M., Ammar, L.A., Greenwood, J., Mitchell, O., Abella, B.S. & Fischer, D. Pseudo-Subarachnoid Hemorrhage and White Cerebellum Sign Following Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Case Series , Poster presentation at the American Heart Association Resuscitation Science Symposium, Chicago, IL: 2026
Gharios, M., Boivin, C., Cunningham, K., Fecondo, B., Fischer, D. Associations between goal-prediction alignment, life-sustaining treatment decisions, and regret in disorders of consciousness , Selected platform presentation at the American Heart Association Resuscitation Science Symposium, Chicago, IL: 2026
Boivin, C.C., Chesley, C., Auriemma, C., & Fischer, D. The crossroads: Evaluating concordance between medical decision-making and goals for neurologically injured patients with disorders of consciousness , Poster presentation at the Department of Medicine 2026 Research Day, Philadelphia, PA, 6/2026.: 2026
Fischer, D. Improving Neuroprognostication Globally and Locally: The Consciousness Prognostication and Recovery Consortium , Brain Injury Professional; Awakening Hope for Coma Recovery Edition, 12(3): 2026
Halablab, S.M., Shofer, F., Kaviyarasu, A., Mitchell, O.J.L., Reis, W., Brothers, T., Fischer, D., Abella, B.S., Greenwood, J. Computed tomography assessment after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest resuscitation , Resuscitation Plus: 2026