Professor Shane Crotty, Ph.D. , of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), has earned the distinction of “World Expert” in vaccine research. This ranking is based on Expertscape‘s PubMed-based algorithms, which place Crotty in the top 0.1% of scholars publishing information about vaccines over the past ten years.
“This recognition is a real honor,” says Crotty. “Vaccines are probably the most important medicines in the world, and it means a lot to me to be able to contribute to understanding vaccines.”
As a member of the LJI Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, Crotty studies how the immune system remembers past infections and vaccines. His work has shed light on the role of CD4 “helper” T cells in responding to infectious diseases and paved the way for effective vaccines against pathogens such as HIV.
Crotty is also a member of the LJI Coronavirus Task Force. In early 2020, the Crotty Lab, in close collaboration with the lab of LJI Professor Alessandro Sette, Dr. Biol. Sci., was the first to publish a detailed analysis of the immune system’s response to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Since then, Crotty has published a series of peer-reviewed and highly cited studies outlining the adaptive immune response to SARS-CoV-2 and the durability of COVID-19 vaccines. This work has been lauded by Anthony Fauci, M.D., Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Over the course of the pandemic, Crotty has led outreach efforts to educate the public and policymakers about COVID-19 research and vaccine development. His 2020 MedCram video interview “COVID 19 Vaccine Deep Dive: Safety, Immunity, RNA Production, (Pfizer Vaccine / Moderna Vaccine)” has earned more than 2.2 million views and provided key facts to those seeking protection from COVID-19.
