Funded extensively through the NIH, Ferrante’s research focuses on how adipose tissue interacts with the immune system, regulates body weight, and contributes to complications of obesity. His finding that obesity leads to the accumulation of macrophages in adipose tissue helped establish the field of immunometabolism and has become one of the most cited works by a VP&S faculty member.

He was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians and serves on advisory boards of several diabetes and obesity research centers.