Catherine Godson, PhD
Citation: Kidney News 15, 10/11
A researcher whose experience spans the Atlantic Ocean will present the Barry M. Brenner, MD, Endowed Lectureship on the topic, “Toward Solutions! Pro-Resolving Lipid Mediators of Metabolism and Inflammation,” on Friday, November 3. The lecture will be presented during a session titled “Bioenergetics of Diabetic Kidneys.”
The speaker will be Catherine Godson, PhD, who is full professor of molecular medicine at University College Dublin (UCD) in Ireland, director of the UCD Diabetes Complications Research Centre, and dean for research in the UCD School of Medicine. She previously served the university as vice president for innovation. She is also a visiting professor at the Diabetes Centre of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.
She leads a group of investigators whose research focuses on innate immunity and chronic complications of diabetes. Their investigations into the molecular mechanisms underlying the initiation, progression, and potential regression of diabetic kidney disease have identified several novel therapeutic targets, susceptibility genes, and potential modulators of disease. The investigators have also made noteworthy progress recently toward understanding inflammatory processes in these contexts.
Among her research contributions is the discovery that lipoxins—a class of endogenously generated lipid mediators—promote the resolution of inflammation. Synthetic mimetics of these molecules are now being developed toward clinical application.
Dr. Godson has served on the Health Research Board of Ireland, the European Medical Research Council, and the Wellcome Trust's Physiological Sciences Committee. She serves as Secretary for Science of the Royal Irish Academy. She is a trustee of Barts Charity, London, and was recently appointed to the board of the Irish Research Council and the Medical Council, Ireland.
She co-chaired the ASN Kidney Week Education Committee in 2022 and served on the European diabetic nephropathy subgroup of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. She has served on numerous editorial boards, including the Journal of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology.
Dr. Godson has received numerous honors, including the Women in Science award of the International Association of Inflammation Societies, the Robert Graves Lecture and Medal 2021 of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland, and the outstanding achievement award of the International Eicosanoid Research Foundation 2022.
She received her doctorate in pharmacology from UCD, followed by postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Geneva and the University of California San Diego. She joined the faculty of Harvard University before returning to Dublin.
