Katherine A. Fitzgerald is an Irish-born American

molecular biologist Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

and

virologist Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, the ...

. She is a professor of medicine currently working in the Division of Infectious Disease at the

University of Massachusetts Medical School The UMass Chan Medical School is a public medical school in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is part of the University of Massachusetts system. It consists of three schools: the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, the Morningside Graduate School of Biom ...

. She is also the director of the Program in Innate Immunity.

Education

Fitzgerald received her

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in biochemistry in 1995 from

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

. She received her Ph.D. in 1999 from

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

, studying with Luke O'Neill. Following her Ph.D., she was postdoc at Trinity College Dublin until 2004 when she moved to the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Research

Fitzgerald is known for her research in the field of

innate immunity The innate immune system or nonspecific immune system is one of the two main immunity strategies in vertebrates (the other being the adaptive immune system). The innate immune system is an alternate defense strategy and is the dominant immune s ...

and the biology behind inflammatory responses in diseases. She conducts research on many aspects of innate immunity such as the molecular basis of pathogen recognition, the innate immunity to

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

, and the impact with diseases such as

lupus Lupus, formally called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Common ...

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects synovial joint, joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and h ...

. In 2021, Fitzgerald published results on an antiviral option to block replication in

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had the Novel coronavirus, provisional nam ...

, the viral agent responsible for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Awards and honors

In 2011, Fitzgerald was a finalist for the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science. In 2015, she was awarded the

Science Foundation Ireland Science Foundation Ireland (SFI; ) was a statutory body in Ireland. It was an agency of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, with responsibility for funding oriented basic and applied research in th ...

(SFI) St. Patrick's Day Science Medal, and she is the first woman to win the award. She has been recognized by Clarivate as a Highly Cited Researcher in the field of immunology by Clarivate every year from 2014 to 2021 for being in the top 1% of authors cited in her field. In 2020, she was admitted into the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the natural sciences, arts, literature, and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned society and one of its le ...

, one of Ireland's most prestigious academic bodies, and was elected to the American Academy of Microbiology. In 2021 she was elected to the United States'

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

and the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

Selected publications

* * *

References

External links

University of Massachusetts profile
* Video
Malaria immune response may do more harm than good
(2011) by UMass Medical School via YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Katherine A. American molecular biologists American virologists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology Members of the Royal Irish Academy Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences UMass Chan Medical School faculty Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of University College Cork Members of the National Academy of Medicine