Luke Fischer, MD, PhD (he/him), is a neurologist and neuroscientist whose research focuses on Lewy body disease and related neurodegenerative disorders.
He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Michigan State University with bachelor's degrees in philosophy and biochemistry and molecular biology. He then earned MD and PhD degrees at Michigan State University, completing his doctoral research in neuroscience under Caryl E. Sortwell, PhD. As a trainee at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Morris K. Udall Center of Excellence for Parkinson's Disease Research, he studied deep brain stimulation in rodent models of Parkinson's disease to better understand its potential to protect vulnerable neurons. He remained in Dr. Sortwell's laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow, where he investigated how common genetic variants influence clinical outcomes in Parkinson's disease and may help guide more personalized treatment approaches.
Dr. Fischer completed his neurology residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and served as chief resident. Through the NINDS R25 Research Education Program, he joined the laboratory of Laura Volpicelli-Daley, PhD, where he used advanced imaging techniques, including confocal and expansion microscopy, to study postmortem human brain tissue and to better understand interactions among multiple disease-related proteins.
Following residency, he completed a clinical fellowship in behavioral neurology before joining the faculty at the UCSF Edward and Pearl Fein Memory and Aging Center, part of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. At the Fein Memory and Aging Center, he continues his research as a NINDS UE5 fellow in the Selective Vulnerability Research Laboratory. His work combines tissue-based analysis with spatial transcriptomics, a technique that maps gene activity within intact tissue, to better understand the molecular and cellular changes that drive Lewy body disease and related neurodegenerative disorders.
In 2024, Dr. Fischer received the Fred A. Erb Clinical Research Science Fellowship from the Alzheimer's Association and the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation. This three-year award supports his research into the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying Lewy body disease, building on his earlier work to identify changes that contribute to disease progression and may inform future therapies.