19 Facts About Dale Fisher

Dale Fisher is a professor of medicine at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, the chair of the National Infection Prevention and Control Committee through the Ministry of Health, Singapore, and chair of the steering committee of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network hosted by the World Health Organization.

Dale Fisher has published on various diseases, including melioidosis, Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy, Severe Acute Respiratory Disease, infection control in hospital settings especially as it relates to multi-drug-resistant pathogens and most recently COVID-19.

Dale Fisher was born in Melbourne in 1960 but moved to Hobart, Tasmania in 1973 when his father was appointed the Registrar of Motor Vehicles.

Dale Fisher's mother was a nurse who worked shifts, in order to bring in a second income throughout Fisher's schooling years.

Dale Fisher received his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Tasmania in 1985 and became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 1992, doing most of his training at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney.

Dale Fisher moved to Singapore in 2003, after working more than a decade at the Royal Darwin Hospital in infectious diseases and general internal medicine.

Dale Fisher began his career as a Staff Specialist Physician at the Royal Darwin Hospital in 1993 specialising in Infectious Diseases, before progressing to become the Director of Division of Medicine.

Dale Fisher came to Singapore in 2003, after responding to a call to assist with the SARS epidemic in Singapore.

Dale Fisher began his involvement in the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network in 2009 as a training faculty in Laos, and has undertaken numerous operational and training missions as well as consultations in many countries through GOARN as well as bilateral arrangements.

Dale Fisher has participated in several WHO Guidelines Development Groups in infection control, including related to Ebola, measles and COVID-19.

Dale Fisher currently sits as Chair of the GOARN Steering Committee and Chair of the National Infection Prevention and Control Committee in Singapore, and chairs the OPAT workgroup of the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

In February 2020, Dale Fisher was on the World Health Organization-led team that visited China to understand technical aspects of the COVID-19 virus; the severity, transmissibility and interventions that could guide the global response to the pandemic outbreak.

Dale Fisher has published a little under 200 peer-reviewed papers in the medical literature and given around 100 plenary and invited presentations to scientific audiences.

Dale Fisher was the infectious disease physician who attended to comedian Jerry Lewis, when the late comedian was admitted to hospital for meningitis while on tour in Darwin.

Dale Fisher's team highlighted that hospital-based physicians should see themselves as a sizeable and flexible group with the ability to contribute in a variety of ways during a disaster.

In dealing with the high prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus within hospitals in Singapore, Dale Fisher has participated and lead many regional and national level workgroups and committees and was key in the national rollout of universal active surveillance for acute hospital admissions.

Dale Fisher is involved in many pilot projects that spearhead on research and response.

Dale Fisher is well known to the media for commentary regarding COVID-19 offered through television, radio, print and social media in dozens of countries of every continent and outlets including CNN, CNBC, BBC, ABC Australia et cetera.

Dale Fisher's philosophy maintains that COVID-19 can and must be contained.