A researcher and clinician in cardiology, he is the previous President of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR), the main research arm of Novartis Pharmaceuticals.Fishman was appointed President of the newly founded Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research in 2002 to implement a new strategy in Novartis' global drug discovery effort.
He is the author of over 100 publications and known for pioneering research using the zebrafish as a means of visualizing the development of the circulatory system and as a model for human disease.