Prof Kate Fitzgerald, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Program in Innate Immunity at the University of Massachusetts joins me on the podcast this week. Kate chats to me about growing up in Waterford, working with Luke O'Neill during her PhD and her relocation to the US (coincidentally the same week as 9/11). Kate describes 'the delicate balance' of our immune system and her interest in how the immune system makes decisions, particularly the innate arm. She chats about her work in defining signalling pathways including nucleic acid sensors for a better understanding of viral immunology, tumour immunology and auto-immune diseases.  Congratulations again to Kate on her recent election to the prestigious US National Academy of Sciences - it was a real honor to have her time this week!!  Follow Kate: FitzgeraldKate Follow me: MeganHanlon4 This season is kindly sponsored by Bio-Sciences Ltd, now part of Thermo-Fisher Scientific.