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Associate Professor of Ophthalmology
Vice Chair – UNC Department of Ophthalmology
Director – Glaucoma Fellowship Program
Director – Ocular Trauma
Perioperative Medical Director – UNC Hospitals Hillsborough

Specialties

Glaucoma (medical, laser, surgical & micro-invasive treatment)
Cataract Surgery
Ocular trauma

Education & Training

Medical School
Drexel University – Hahnemann University Hospital (Philadelphia, PA)
Residency
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
Fellowship
Duke University Medical Center (Society of Heed Fellow)

Research Interests

Mechanisms of glaucoma and outcome measures of surgery; role of cerebrospinal fluid in ophthalmic disease; cataracts and ocular trauma

Dr. Fleischman is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the Perioperative Medical Director of UNC Hillsborough Hospital and the Director of the Glaucoma Fellowship and Ocular Trauma for the Department of Ophthalmology. He received a BS in Microbiology & Cell Sciences, a BA in History and a minor in Chemistry at the University of Florida. He went on to complete graduate studies in Physiology & Biophysics, earning an MS at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.  He earned his medical doctorate at Drexel University – Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He trained at the University of North Carolina Hospitals for his internship and residency. There, he received the Senior Resident Surgical Excellence Award in 2014. He went on to Duke University in Durham for fellowship training in Glaucoma and was honored with the prestigious Heed Fellowship for the 2014-2015 academic year, one of twenty fellows in the country to receive this distinction each year.  Dr. Fleischman is interested in the science behind the medical, surgical and laser treatment of glaucoma and cataract. He is actively involved in research, with particular interests in the role of cerebrospinal fluid pressure in glaucoma and the optimization of surgical techniques for the treatment of glaucoma. He has authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, textbook chapters, and has given research presentations at meetings nationwide and internationally. His research presentations have received recognition by the American Medical Association, as well as the top award for the annual resident research awards in the University of North Carolina Department of Internal Medicine and Ophthalmology for each of the years between 2011 and 2014.

Dr. Fleischman’s wife, Dr. Gita Fleischman, is an ENT Head & Neck surgeon at Wake Med. The couple has three children – two daughters and a son.

Select Publications

  • Fleischman D, Berdahl JP, Stinnett SS, Fautsch MP, Allingham RR. Cerebrospinal fluid pressure (CSFP) trends in diseases associated with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). Acta Ophthalmol. 2014 Sep 10. doi: 10.1111/aos.12551.
  • Fleischman D, Berdahl JP. Posterior scleral biomechanics and the translaminar pressure difference. Review. Int Ophthalmol Clin. 2014 Winter;54(1):73-94.
  • Fleischman D, Berdahl JP, Fautsch MP, Chesnutt DA, Allingham RR. Increasing intraocular pressure as treatment for papilledema. Exp Eye Research. 2013; 115:278
  • Fleischman D, Allingham RR. The role of cerebrospinal fluid pressure in glaucoma and other ophthalmic diseases: a review. Saudi J Ophthal. 2013; 27:97-106
  • Fleischman D, Berdahl JP, Zaydlarova J, Stinnett SS, Fautsch MP, Allingham RR. Cerebrospinal fluid pressure decreases with older age. PLoS ONE. 2012 Dec 26;7(12):e52664
  • Berdahl JP*, Fleischman D*, Zaydlarova J, Stinnett SS, Allingham RR♮, Fautsch MP♮. Body Mass Index has a linear relationship with cerebrospinal fluid pressure. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2012 Mar 15;53(3):1422-7 (* equivalent first authors, ♮ equivalent senior authors)
  • Fleischman D, Allingham RR, Berdahl JP, Fautsch MP. Cerebrospinal fluid, body mass index, and glaucoma. Ophthalmology. 2011 Jun;118(6):1225-6
  • Jindal A, Fleischman D, Leiby BL, Myers J, Spaeth GJ, Katz LJ. Effect of acutely lowering intraocular pressure on multifocal visual evoked potential testing. Acta Ophthalmologica. 2011 Nov;89(7):e550-4
  • Givre SJ, Fleischman D. Intracranial hypertension in a patient using topical adapalene. J Neuroophthalmol. 2008 Jun;28(2):156-8

Click here for a listing of Dr. Fleischman’s research publications.

To schedule an appointment with Dr. Fleischman, please call 984-974-2020.

David Fleischman, M.D., F.A.C.S.