Marcella Farinelli Fierro

Dr. Marcella Farinelli Fierro (born 1941) is a Medical examiner and forensic pathologist. She was the former chief medical examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia and was appointed this position in 1994 and retired in 2008. Despite the male-dominated nature of forensics pathology, Dr. Fierro proved a female could equally excel in this heavy weighted science dealing with death and morbid matters, becoming the ninth woman certified in forensic pathology by the American Board of Pathology. Dr. Fierro now serves as an educator, mentor, and adviser and conducts weekly courses in subject matters such “as advanced death investigation to medical examiners crime scene investigators, judges, law enforcement investigators, prosecutors, forensics science.” She also is a member of a committee that conducted the National Academy of Sciences study that seeks to address issues within the field of forensics pathology and initiate change. When asked why she joined this National Academy of Science study in an interview on June 22, 2010 Dr. Fierro commented, “ You have the battle scars of having done something and made mistakes and discovered new ways and made progress.” A passionate scholar, researcher, educator, and advocate, Fierro remains dedicated to her field of study by not only striving to push advancements in the present, but to provide for the future, ensuring her legacy. As one of the most accomplished forensics scientists in the world, Fierro is aware that her service has a lasting impact, commenting, “I think when you have a lot of experience and when you do something for a long time, you have something to give back.” Empathy and the desire to help has been at the root of Fierro’s drive and commitment to becoming one of the most prestigious forensics pathologists; when questioned why she was inspired to devote herself to forensic science Fierro replied, as any other doctor would, “I wanted to help sick people feel better.”

Education and career

Fierro decided to pursue a doctor of medicine in forensic pathology at the State of University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine after she graduated cum laude in biology from D’Youville College in Buffalo New York in 1962. Receiving the title of a doctor in 1966, Dr. Fierro pursued an internship and residency at Ottawa Civic Hospital in Ontario, Canada followed by residencies in pathology at the Cleveland (Ohio) Clinic Educational Foundation and at Virginia Commonwealth University. Rising to the ranks quickly, Fierro became chief resident in Pathology at the Virginia Commonwealth University and held a fellowship in forensic pathology in the Department of Legal Medicine at the Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond from 1973 to 1974. After receiving board of certification in Anatomic and CLinical Pathology, Dr. Fierro acquired the title of chief medical examiner of Virginia, the state’s highest position in forensic science, in 1994. Dr. Fierro has shared her specialized knowledge in forensics with others and has passionately fulfilled her role as an educator by being a faculty of the Department of Legal Medicine and Pathology at Medical College of Virginia Commonwealth University since 1973, and was a clinical professor of pathology at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, from 1983 to 1992 and also in 1999 to 2002. Fierro served as a staff pathologist at Richmond’s Medical College of Virginia Hospitals from 1975 to 1992 and then returned to academia to share her scientific findings with others as a professor of Pathology at East Carolina School of Medicine in Greenville from 1992 to 1994. x

Knowing the value of inspiring innovation and voicing her opinion in her field, Fierro has served as a member of the American Medical Association and the International Association for Identification, a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, the College of American Pathologists, and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and was a former president of the National Association of Medical Examiners. Expanding beyond academia, Fierro has been a consultant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Task Force on National Crime Investigation Center, Unidentified Persons and Missing Persons Files, Washington D.C., since 1983. She made public her findings and researched through various lectures and presentations before academic and professional organizations and has published widely in peer-reviewed journals. Presently, she still serves on the board of editors and been a reviewed for The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology since 1979.

While she has earned many awards, one of her most prestigious and telling awards is the Lifetime Achievement Award she received in 2001 from the School of Medicine and Bio medical Sciences Medical Alumni Association. This award exemplifies Fierro’s determination to devote her life to her scientific research and discoveries and her willingness to help and educate others. Dr. Marcella Farinelli Fierro demonstrates that a woman can pursue extensive scientific study that has significant impact on the society we live in today and in the future.

She was one of only four women in her med school class. Fierro oversees the medical investigations of all sudden, violent and unexpected deaths in the state. Rarely, she says, do they play out like a TV series.

Patricia Cornwell's novels

Marcella Farinelli Fierro’s exceptional talent and discoveries in the field of forensic science inspired Patricia Cornwell’s famous crime novels in which she modeled her protagonist Kay Scarpetta after Dr. Fierro and her groundbreaking work.

Sources

• Gelineau, Kristen. “Famed Medical Examiner Retires - USATODAY.com.” Famed
• Medical Examiner Retires- USATODAY.com Gannet Co., 31 Dec. 2007. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.
• Vargas, Theresa. “Witness to the Mysteries of Death and the Gift of Life.” Washington.

External links

• http://www.vitals.com/doctors/Dr_Marcella_Fierro/profile