How Immunology Shaped COVID Vaccines and Beyond
In a recent Immune MicrobeTV podcast interview, Dr. Shane Crotty of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology shared his journey into science and the lessons learned from leading vaccine research during COVID-19.
Crotty described how he “fell into” immunology while studying viral evolution, eventually becoming fascinated with how T follicular helper (TFH) cells guide B cells to produce long-lasting antibody responses.
This work has helped define why some vaccines succeed while others fail, knowledge crucial for infectious diseases and potentially for autoimmune conditions where antibody regulation goes awry.
During the early days of COVID-19, Crotty’s lab was among the first to show that people who recovered produced normal, effective immune responses. This finding reassured scientists and vaccine developers worldwide that protective vaccines were possible. The speed of this research was truly exceptional, with patient enrollment, assay conduct, and result publication occurring in a matter of weeks. Crotty credits collaboration, agility, and a willingness to share data openly.
He also reflected on the balance between collaboration and competition in science, the value of failure as a teacher, and why vaccines remain his greatest passion:
“They’ve saved more children’s lives globally than anything besides clean water.”
For the autoimmune community, Crotty’s work on TFH cells shows how the immune pathways that protect us through vaccines can also misfire, fueling autoimmunity when antibodies attack the body itself, as seen in diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and Sjögren’s syndrome.