1998 INDUCTEE C. Miller Fisher, MD Brain & Mind

C. Miller Fisher inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame

Hull, Quebec

C. Miller Fisher continued to make significant contributions to the field of neurology with the descriptions of many cerebrovascular syndromes

These contributions included describing descending Guillain-Barre syndrome, which now bears his name as the Miller Fisher syndrome. Other syndromes include normal pressure hydrocephalus, transient global amnesia, one-and-a-half syndrome, wrong-way eyes, oval pupils, among many more.

Fisher was appointed chief of neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Bullard Professor of Neuropathology at Harvard medical school

He began a long and successful career at the Massachusetts General Hospital and as a professor at the Harvard Medical School. In these roles, he remained a dedicated educator and clinician, mentoring generations of neurologists who continued impactful work throughout the world.

Under the influence of Wilder Penfield, Fisher went to study at Harvard University with Raymond Adams, the renowned American neurologist

Fisher spent a year at Boston City Hospital where he completed a fellowship in neuropathology. At the age of 36, Fisher returned to Montreal to become the neuropathologist at the Montreal General Hospital. This connection with Raymond Adams, however, left a significant impression on the trajectory of Fisher’s life.

After his release from Germany, Miller Fisher returned to Canada to complete neurological studies under the famed Dr. Wilder Penfield at the Montreal Neurological Institute

Working as a neuropathologist at the Montreal General Hospital, he performed autopsies on the carotid artery of stroke victims. His observation that the narrowing of the carotid artery caused stroke was a pivotal event in stroke research and established stroke as a neurological pathology.

With the start of the Second World War, Fisher was placed in the British Royal Navy due to the shortage of naval medical officers

In 1941, the naval ship he was aboard was attacked by a German vessel, causing the captain to surrender. After being captured, Fisher was interned at a German prisoner of war camp for over three years. During this time, he developed a disciplined mind and a knack for the German language, reading any German medical literature that was made available to him in the camp.

Charles Miller Fisher attended the University of Toronto Medical School graduating in 1938

While not attending classes, he was a member of the university’s swimming and water polo teams.