Donna Ferriero is Distinguished Professor, emeritus, of the Departments of Neurology and Pediatrics at the University of California-San Francisco.
[3] Ferriero studied zoology at Rutgers University, then obtained a master's degree in immunology.
She then worked as a research assistant, studying the mechanism of olfaction, before going to medical school at the University of California-San Francisco.
[3][4] When Ferriero was appointed assistant professor at UCSF, she began working with Roger P. Simon, a neurologist who had created a model of adult hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).
[5] Ferriero studies therapeutic hypothermia as a method of protecting the brain during the secondary phase after injury and is known for refining the technique and promoting it throughout neonatal intensive care units, including trials of isolated cooling of the head (CoolCap).