David Fischer, MD

Neurology
Penn Neuroscience Center - Neurology
Make an appointmentCall 800-789-7366
Headshot of David Fischer, MD
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

My education and training

  • Medical School: Harvard Medical School
  • Residency: Mass General Brigham Healthcare Center - Chestnut Hill
  • Residency: Massachusetts General Hospital
  • Fellowship: Massachusetts General Hospital

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.

Locations

Penn Medicine hospital privileges

  • Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
  • Pennsylvania Hospital: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
  • Penn Presbyterian Medical Center: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
  • Penn Medicine Rittenhouse Long-Term Acute Care Hospital
  • Lancaster General Hospital
  • Chester County Hospital: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
  • Princeton Medical Center: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
Dr. Fischer is a Penn Medicine physician.

Qualifications and experience

Treatments and conditions

Research

Publications

Molly McDonough The covert consciousness dilemma , Harvard Medicine Magazine: 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

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

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

Copeland, J.M., Boivin, C.C., Rosa, P., O’Brien, C.S., Bahti, M., Fischer, D.*, Auriemma, C.L.* (*co-last authors) The Surrogate Perspective: Quantification of important recovery outcomes after acute disorders of consciousness. , Poster presentation at the Annual Assemble of Hospice & Palliative Care; March 4-7, 2026; San Diego, CA.: 2026

Fischer, D., Halablab, S., Kaviyarasu, A., Law, C., Abella, B.S., Greenwood, J., Schneider, A.L.C. A specialized neuroprognostication program is associated with improved guideline-adherence and outcomes after cardiac arrest , Selected platform presentation at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL: 2026

Van Roy, S., Hsu, L., Ho, J., Scirica, B.M., Fischer, D., Snider, S.B. & Lee, J.W. Quantitative and radiological assessment of post-cardiac-arrest comatose patients with diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging , Neurocritical Care, 42(2): 2025,541-550

Fischer, D., Reyes-Esteves, S., Law, C., Ford, A., Schwab, P., Abella, B.S., Schneider, A.L.C. & Kumar, M.A. Implementation of a specialized neuroprognostication consultation program and associated provider attitudes: A survey-based study   , Resuscitation Plus, 23: 2025,100932

Fischer, D., Edlow, B.L., Freeman, H.J., Alaiev, D., Wu, Q., Ware, J.B., Detre, J.A., Aguirre, G.K Author Response: Reconstructing Covert Consciousness: Neural Decoding as a Novel Consciousness Assessment , Neurology: 2025

Fischer, D Oxygen targets after cardiac arrest: Is there anything we can do? , CHEST, 168(5): 2025,1076-1078