A world-renowned scientist, clinician and educator, David Fisher, MD, PhD, is chief of the Dermatology Service at Mass General and director of the hospital’s Melanoma Program and Cutaneous Biology Research Center.
Dr. Fisher’s laboratory studies the basic science of skin pigmentation and examines the molecular and genetic events that lead to melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. He discovered the key pathways regulating development of melanocytes and the fundamental mechanisms underlying skin tanning.
Dr. Fisher is a past president of the Society for Melanoma Research, the largest international society dedicated to the study of melanoma.
As a clinician, Dr. Fisher works to translate laboratory findings into advances in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of human diseases related to the skin. He is a vigorous advocate of public education about sun protection and the dangers of tanning.
The Edward Wigglesworth Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Fisher is dedicated to educating future generations of physician-scientists. He has mentored a host of leaders in dermatology and cancer research.
An accomplished concert cellist who received a degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Dr. Fisher earned his PhD under Nobel Laureate Génter Blobel, MD, PhD, at Rockefeller University and pursued his postdoctoral research with Nobel laureate Phillip Sharp, PhD, at MIT.
