VCU Woman Changing the Face of Health Sciences

Changing the Face of Medicine Honoree: Dr. Marcella F. Fierro

Dr. Marcella F. Fierro serves as Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia, Professor of Pathology and Professor and Chair of the Department of Legal Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University serving in this position since 1994. Dr. Fierro oversees the medical examiner investigation of all violent, suspicious and unnatural deaths in Virginia. She also teaches forensic pathology to medical schools, law students, law enforcement agencies, commonwealth’s attorneys and other interested groups.

She received a BA in biology cum laude from D’Youville College, Buffalo, New York and earned her degree in medicine from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She completed residency training in pathology at the Cleveland Clinic and the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University. She was a fellow in forensic pathology and legal medicine at VCU and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia. Dr. Fierro is certified in anatomical, clinical and forensic pathology. After serving as Deputy Chief Medical Examiner for Central Virginia for 17 years, Dr. Fierro accepted a position as Professor of Pathology at East Carolina University School of Medicine where she served in the division of forensic pathology and taught general and forensic pathology before returning to Virginia in 1994 as Chief.

Dr. Fierro has been active in professional organizations as a member of the Forensic Pathology Councils of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists and Chair of the Forensic Pathology Committee of the College of American Pathologists. She is Past President of the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) and served on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of NAME. Dr. Fierro is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Dr. Fierro is a member of the Forensic Science Board for the Commonwealth and has served as a consultant to the FBI on the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Unidentified and Missing Persons Files and on Federal panels and committees developing best practices in mass fatality management.

Dr. Fierro has published in professional journals, has edited a text, contributed chapters to several books and presented at international meetings. Dr. Fierro serves as a reviewer for the American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology. Dr. Fierro received the NAME Service award and was elected to AOA as a distinguished alumna of the State University of New York, Buffalo.

Read Dr. Fierro's biography on the Changing the Face of Medicine website.