Peter Fischer studied medicine and psychology at the University of  Vienna. After graduation as general practitioner in 1983 he started his residency at the Neurological Institute of the University of Vienna (Brain Research Institute, Head:  Herbert  Budka) with emphasis on clinical neuropsychology and neuropathology. (1983-06-01  to 1986-09-30). After residency at the Departement of Psychiatry at the University Hospital Vienna (1986-10-01 to 1990-09-30) he graduated as specialist in Psychiatry / Neurology on 1991-04-01. The „venia docendi“ (associate professor) in psychiatry was conferred on him three months later. From 1991 to 2007 he was attending senior psychiatrist at the Departement of Psychiatry at the University Hospital Vienna. He established and managed the memory clinic from 1992-05-01 to 2007-10-01. He established the clinic for refractory depression together with Professor  Gerhard Lenz in 1993.Since 1993 he is clinical psychologist. 1994-08-03 he graduated as doctor for psychotherapeutic medicine. Since 1994 he has run a medical practice as specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy. From 2007-2021 he was  head of the department of Psychiatry at the Danube Hospital in Vienna, Austria.

​

Scientific Career:

Peter Fischer wrote more than 200 scientific papers in international peer reviewed journals (more than 50 as first author. He gave  many invited lectures on scientific meetings and congresses. The main interest of his scientific work has been the gerontopsychiatry with emphasis on depression, Alzheimer´s disease, Parkinson´s disease, life-style & aging and delirium.

He established the Vienna Longitudinal Study on Dementia at the geriatric chronic care hospital Lainz ( 1985 – 2000).

He established and has been coordinating the community based, gerontological cohort study “VITA: Vienna Transdanube Aging Study“ since 1999-07-01.

He was chief-editor of the scientific journal "psychopraxis.neuropraxis" of Springer Verlag between 2010 and 2019.