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

Education and training

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

Insurance accepted

My 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

My research

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., Kumar, M., Levine, J., Mendlik, M., Narva, A. The miracle dilemma: Demystifying a common challenge in neuroprognostication , Brain, 148: 2025,3437–3440

Fischer, D. Flickers of awareness: Cerebellar stimulation in disorders of consciousness , Neurotherapeutics, 22: 2025,e00636

Wu, Q., Nguyễn, K.V., Boivin, C.C., Ware, J.B., Detre, J.A., Fischer, D. Comparative analysis of fMRI-based covert consciousness methodologies , Poster presentation at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, 11/2025 : 2025

Alan Yu The mystery of consciousness , National Public Radio, The Pulse (https://www.npr.org/2025/03/21/1239865407/mystery-of-consciousness): 2025

Fischer, D., Abella, B.S., Ford, A., Greenwood, J., Halablab, S., Kumar, M.A., Law, C., Levine, J.M., Reyes-Esteves, S., Schwab, P., Schneider, A.L.C. Implementation of a specialized neuroprognostication program: Impact on provider attitudes and patient care , Poster presentation at the American Neurological Association and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Career Development Symposium, Baltimore, MD, 9/2025 : 2025

Young, M.J., Koch, C., Claassen, J., Fischer, D., Aubinet, C., Gosseries, O., Kondziella, D., Rosanova, M., Sarasso, S., Casarotto, S., Massimini, M. & Edlow, B.L. An ethical framework to assess covert consciousness , Lancet Neurology, 24: 2025,195-196

Fischer, D Oxygen targets after cardiac arrest: Is there anything we can do? , CHEST: 2025