- 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
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.
- 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
- 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.
Qualifications and experience
- Psychiatry & Neurology, Neurocritical Care
- 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
- 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
- Society for Critical Care Medicine, International
- Society for Critical Care Medicine Neuroscience Section Research Subcommittee, International
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