Katherine Ferrara is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at UC Davis. Dr. Ferrara began her career as a project engineer for General Electric Medical Systems, involved in the development of early magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound systems.  Following an appointment as an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Dr. Ferrara served as the founding chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at UC Davis.

The central focus of her research is image-guided drug delivery, combining nanovehicles, imaging techniques, and methods to enhance delivery. By encapsulating cancer therapeutics in particles designed to be stable in circulation and targetable to diseased tissue, her research seeks to minimize systemic toxicity and maximize drug efficacy in cancer treatment.  She is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Biomedical Engineering Society, the Acoustical Society of America and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering.  She received the IEEE UFFC Achievement Award in 2012. Dr. Ferrara received her Ph.D. in 1989 from the University of California, Davis.