Katherine A. Fitzgerald

Katherine A. Fitzgerald is an Irish-born American molecular biologist and virologist. She is a professor of medicine currently working in the Division of Infectious Disease at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She is also the director of the Program in Innate Immunity.

Education
Fitzgerald received her B.Sc. degree in biochemistry in 1995 from University College Cork. She received her Ph.D. in 1999 from Trinity College Dublin, 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 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, and the impact with diseases such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. In 2021, Fitzgerald published results on an antiviral option to block replication in SARS-CoV-2, the viral agent responsible for COVID-19.

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 (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, 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 and the National Academy of Medicine.