Taoiseach presents St Patrick's Day science medal to Massachusetts professor

The Taoiseach has presented the Science Foundation Ireland St. Patrick's Day Science Medal to Professor Katherine Fitzgerald, Professor of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Enda Kenny praised Professor Fitzgerald for her work in the field of immunology, particularly infectious diseases.

Professor Fitzgerald has helped to define a group of inflammatory activators that lead to diseases such as gout, asbestosis, and potentially Alzheimer’s disease.

The medal is awarded once a year to a "distinguished" Irish scientist, engineer or technology worker living in the USA. One of the criteria is that the recipient should have contributed to academic or industrial development in Ireland.

He also presented a certificate of Irish heritage to Dr France Cordova, Director of the National Science Foundation.