Michael Fischer, M.D., MPH & TM has worked for the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) for over 6 years in the Infectious Disease Control Unit (IDCU) and in October of 2017, he took-on the role of Antibiotic Stewardship Expert for the Health Care Safety Group of the Infectious Disease Control Unit at Tx-DSHS.
“The biggest predictor has been leadership.”
Prior to taking on this role, Michael served Texas as the epidemiologist and subject matter expert for prion disease surveillance. Additionally, Michael has also served as a medical epidemiologist, during outbreaks involving high consequence pathogens (West Africa Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in 2014) or events with elevated public concern (travel-related Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV)), providing consults to physicians, infection control practitioners, and healthcare facilities on appropriateness of testing, test results, prevention and control measures, and mechanisms of disease transmission.
As the Antibiotic Stewardship Expert, Dr. Fischer's primary role is to promote the implementation and enhancement of antibiotic stewardship programs in Texas across all healthcare settings.