Biography

Prof. Urs Fischer is the Director and Chairman of the Department of Neurology at the University Hospital Bern, Switzerland. Urs Fischer studied in Bern, London, San Francisco and Lomé and graduated in 2000. In 2008/2009, he performed a “Master of Science by Research in Clinical Neurology” at the University of Oxford. In 2015 he was elected as “Professor for Acute Neurology and Stroke” at the University of Bern. From 2021 until 2024, he was chairing the Department of Neurology in Basel.

Urs Fischer is a clinical researcher and his main research interest involves diagnosis, management, treatment and outcome of patients with acute neurological diseases, especially of patients with acute ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. He served as principal investigator for several international multicenter academic trials on the management of patients with ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke, such as the SWIFT DIRECT (The Lancet, PMID: 35810756), ELAN (NEJM, PMID: 37222476), SWITCH (The Lancet, PMID: 38761811) and DISTAL (NEJM) trials. He is the Co-PI of the TECNO, ICARUS, ELASPE and DO IT trials and part of the steering committee of the EMINENT-ICH, TRIDENT and EAST-Stroke, trials.

The SWIFT DIRECT trial (NCT03192332) assessed whether adding intravenous thrombolysis to mechanical thrombectomy improves the patient outcome compared to direct mechanical thrombectomy alone.

The ELAN trial (NCT03148457) assesses when oral anticoagulation with direct oral anticoagulants in stroke patients with atrial fibrillation can be introduced.

The SILENT2 (NCT04449523) study assess the incidence of silent atrial fibrillation in patients with silent brain infarction. Rhythm monitoring will be done by an implantable cardiac monitor capable of remote transmission of all recorded episodes.

The SWITCH trial (NCT02258919) investigates whether decompressive craniectomy in addition to best medical treatment is superior to best medical treatment alone for patients with intracerebral haemorrhage.

The DISTAL trial (NCT05029414) aims to assess, whether mechanical thrombectomy in addition to best medical treatment in patients with distal, medium vessel occlusion (dMEVO, defined as an occlusion of the co- or non-dominant M2, M3 or M4, A2 or A3, P1, P2 or P3) is superior to best medical treatment alone.

The TECNO trial (NCT05499832) aims to determine the safety and efficacy of intraarterial Tenecteplase in patients experiencing an acute ischemic stroke due to a large vessel occlusion with incomplete reperfusion with residual occlusions after mechanical thrombectomy.

The ICARUS trial (NCT06472336) evaluates if early endovascular therapy with intracranial stenting compared to conventional endovascular therapy is beneficial regarding the prevention of disability and dependency in daily activities in large vessel occlusion stroke patients with absence of early recanalization (TIMI score of 0-1) due to intracranial atherosclerotic disease.

The DO IT trial (NCT06571149) evaluates whether intravenous thrombolysis is safe and improves clinical outcomes in patients with an acute ischemic stroke and recent direct oral anticoagulants intake in comparison to patients treated with standard of care.

The ELAPSE trial (NCT05976685) evaluates whether in patients with atrial fibrillation and acute stroke, despite optimal anticoagulation, a combination of percutaneous left ventricular appendix occlusion plus direct oral anticoagulants after the intervention reduces the risk of recurrent ischemic strokes, systemic embolism and cardiovascular death compared to direct oral anticoagulants alone.

The EMINENT ICH trial (NCT05681988) aims to show superiority of early minimally invasive image-guided hematoma evacuation additionally to best medical treatment compared to best medical treatment alone in functional outcome rates at 6 months in patients with spontaneous supratentorial intracerebral haemorrhage.

Urs Fischer is active in National and European Stroke Societies: he is the president elect of the European Stroke Organisation (ESO), president of the Swiss Neurological Society (SNG), former member of the programme committee of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN), and he is co-founder the ESO ESMINT ESNR Stroke Winter School and the Asian Stroke School. Together with his colleagues of the stroke center Bern he established the European Stroke Master Program.

Urs Fischer was the recipient of the 2020 ESO Scientific Excellence Award, the Honorary Medal “Gheorghe Marinescu” of the Romanian Society of Neurology in 2021 and the Maupertuis Research Award 2024 of the Swiss Brain League.