Scientific Advisory Board
Katherine A. Fitzgerald, PhD
Professor of Medicine,
Chief, Division of Innate Immunity,
Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Medicine
Vice Provost for Basic Science Research
UMass Chan Medical School
Katherine A. Fitzgerald, PhD
Dr. Fitzgerald received her B.Sc. in Biochemistry in 1995 from University College Cork, Ireland and her PhD in Biochemistry in 1999 from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. After a post-doctoral fellowship at Trinity College Dublin, she joined UMass Chan and has remained at UMass Chan rising through the ranks to a tenured Professor as well as her leadership roles.
Dr. Fitzgerald’s work is focused on the innate immune system, aimed at understanding the molecular basis of the inflammatory response during infection and in inflammatory diseases. In particular, her group studies nucleic acid sensors, inflammasomes as well as long non-coding RNAs in immunity and inflammation. The long-term goal of her work is to determine how innate immune sensing and signaling contribute to infectious, inflammatory, and autoimmune diseases in humans. Her group has made seminal discoveries in the areas of host-pathogen interactions, innate immunity and mechanisms of inflammation, including discoveries of new receptors for pathogens, new signaling molecules, and defining how innate immune pathways contribute to autoimmune and inflammatory disease.
She has extensive service both locally at UMass Chan as well as nationally, including service on local and national advisory boards (e.g., the Cancer Research Institute and the Smith Odyssey Foundation). She was also the recent past President of the International Cytokine and Interferon Society. She also serves on the scientific advisory board of a number of biotechs and pharma. Dr. Fitzgerald is an elected fellow of the American Society of Microbiology and an elected member of the Royal Irish Academy, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is the recipient of several awards including the Thermo-Fischer Meritorious Career Award (from the American Association of Immunology), the Saint Patrick’s Day Medal (from the Irish Government and Science Foundation Ireland) and the Milstein Award for Excellence in Interferon and Cytokine research (from the International Cytokine and Interferon Society), amongst others.