Donna Ferriero is Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics and currently is the Vice Chair of the Department of Neurology and is the Director of the Child Neurology Division and the Neonatal Brain Disorders Center.

She received her BA and MS degrees from Rutgers University and her MD degree from the University of California San Francisco. She completed her child neurology training and a postdoctoral research fellowship at UCSF before joining the faculty of the departments of Neurology and Pediatrics as an Assistant Professor in 1987. She has been honored at UCSF as a recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Academic Senate, and the Chancellor's Award for the Advancement of Women. She received the Sidney Carter Award from the American Academy of Neurology and the Weinstein-Goldenson Award from the United Cerebral Palsy for Excellence in Medical Research.

Donna Ferriero is the director of the Neonatal Brain Disorders Center at UCSF that combines human research, such as the BAMRI study, animal studies, and in vitro technologies to study the development of ischemic injury during brain development.
She also performs the neurological exams at the follow-up visits.