Dr. Crotty graduated from MIT with dual degrees in Biology and Writing and obtained his Ph.D. at UCSF. He carried out postdoctoral studies at Emory University before starting his laboratory at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology, now the La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), in 2003, where he is now a full professor and the Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Crotty’s lab studies the fundamental immunology underlying vaccine functions (Immunity 2013, 2018. Cell 2019. Nature 2022. Science 2024).
Crotty’s laboratory is best known for understanding T follicular helper (Tfh) CD4 T cells and their critical role in antibody responses and germinal centers (Science 2009, Immunity 2019, Nature Immunology 2020, Immunity 2025). His work with LJI colleagues on COVID-19 immunology after infection or vaccination has been among the most influential in the world, including one of the top 10 most influential Science papers of all time. Dr. Crotty was a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences, and has been a Highly Cited Researcher in immunology for 10 consecutive years. He has been elected into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, holds an NIH Merit Award, and was awarded the 2023 American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Herzenberg Award for outstanding career contributions to B cell biology.