Leadership

Immunology is at the threshold of healthcare transformation.

Major clinical advances over the last 10 years have enriched basic understanding of the immune system to the point of translation, and there is the promise of great success with antibody therapies and other forms of immunotherapy. The value of close interactions among researchers studying cancer, infectious diseases, autoimmunity, and transplant rejection is now readily apparent.

Executive Leadership

Gay M. Crooks, MD

Director, Immunity, Inflammation, Infection, & Transplantation (I3T) Theme

Dr. Crooks holds the Rebecca Smith Chair and is a Professor in the Departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Pediatrics. She received her medical degree from the University of Western Australia, and after Pediatrics training at Princess Margaret Hospital in Perth, Western Australia, she became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP). 

Her clinical expertise in human hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation and her research program in HSC, pluripotent stem cells (PSC), and T cell development enable her work to reach into the fields of developmental immunology, regenerative medicine, transplantation, and cancer immunotherapy. Dr. Crooks holds leadership positions at UCLA, including director of the JCCC Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Program area and co-chair of the Basic and Translational COVID-19 Research Task Force.

Leadership Council