Alfred P. Fishman, MD
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Session Chair
Pathology and Current Therapy
Alfred P. Fishman, MD is the William Maul Measey Professor of Medicine and Senior Associate Dean for Program Development at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He received his AB and MS degrees from the University of Michigan, and his MD from the University of Louisville. He has had extensive research training in physiology, pathology and medicine largely under the sponsorship of the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association. In 1966, he became Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago and Director of the Cardiovascular Institute at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center. In 1969, he joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania as Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean of Research. His background in physiology, pathology and medicine has been primarily directed at research in cardiovascular and pulmonary medicine. Between 1990–1996, he served as Chair of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He currently serves as Chair of the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Council and as Director of the Office of Complementary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Metanexus Institute and is a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine by the American Public.
Dr. Fishman has been a consultant to the executive office of the President of the United States; a member of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and Chairman of the Health Sciences Policy Board of the Institute of Medicine, NAS. From 1975-1978, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the American Associates of the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel. From 1980-1985, he was on the Visiting Committee of the University of Missouri at Kansas City as part of the planning committee for the new medical school. From 1983-1988, he was a member of the Advisory Committee of the Fu Wal National Heart Hospital, Beijing, China. He has made several trips to the Soviet Republics for the National Institutes of Health. He has served on numerous editorial boards, as editor of the Journal of Applied Physiology, and as Chairman of the Publications Committees of the American Physiological Society (1974-1981), and of the American Heart Association. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the American Heart Association. He has served as special consultant to the Health Commissioner, New York State, Dr. David Axelrod and as Chair of the New York State Cardiac Advisory Committee. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the National Space Biomedical Research Board.
Dr. Fishman was President of the American Physiological Society, and is or has been a member of several national societies, including the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the Interurban Clinical Club, and Royal Society of Medicine (London) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was Chairman of the United States National Committee of the International Union of Physiological Sciences. He has served on a succession of committees and the Cardiopulmonary Council of the National Institutes of Health and is currently Chair of the Steering Committee of the National Emphysema Treatment Trial, which involves 18 medical centers in the United States. Dr. Fishman serves on a number of Boards of Directors, including the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), and is on the Board of Visitors of several medical institutions, including The Case-Western University School of Medicine. He is a past President of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. He has edited nine books and published over 250 scientific articles.
In May 2001, Dr. Fishman was the recipient of the prestigious Edward Livingston Trudeau Medal, the highest award offered by the American Thoracic Society, a branch of the American Lung Association. The award recognizes Dr. Fishman’s excellence in original research on the lungs, the control of breathing in health and disease, and on normal and abnormal pulmonary circulation. In November, 2003, Dr. Fishman was designated a Fellow of the American Heart Association and in May 2004, Dr Fishman received the Ray G. Daggs Award of the American Physiological Society for his accomplishments in physiology and services to the Society as its President.