Mitchell Kronenberg (born December 12, 1951) is an American immunologist and the chief scientific officer at

La Jolla Institute for Immunology La Jolla Institute for Immunology is a non-profit research organization located in La Jolla, California. It is located in UC San Diego’s Research Park. The institute researches immunology and immune system diseases. The institute employs 220 M.D ...

. He served as president of the institute from 2003 to 2021.

Education

Kronenberg received his Bachelor of Science degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1973 and a Ph.D. from the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

, where he stayed on to complete postdoctoral work in the laboratory of

Leroy Hood Leroy "Lee" Edward Hood (born October 10, 1938) is an American biologist who has served on the faculties at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of Washington. Hood has developed ground-breaking scientific instrum ...

Scientific career

In 1986, Kronenberg joined the faculty at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, where he rose through the ranks and was promoted to full professor in 1997. In 1997, he moved to La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) to head the Division of Developmental Immunology. He was appointed president and chief scientific officer of LJI in 2003. Kronenberg is an adjunct professor of Biology at

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

and co-directs the Program in Immunology, a collaborative effort between La Jolla Institute and UC San Diego. During his leadership, LJI formalized its ties with UC San Diego, maintained its relationship with

Kyowa Kirin is a Japanese pharmaceutical and biotechnology company under the Kirin Holdings, and is among the 40 largest in the world by revenue. The company is headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo and is a member of the Nikkei 225 stock index. History On ...

, expanded its core facilities and technologic prowess, increased its budget four-fold and grew in reputation. From 2009 to 2015, he was also the secretary-treasurer of the

American Association of Immunologists The American Association of Immunologists (AAI) is an international scientific society dedicated to furthering the study of immunology. AAI provides its members with a variety of platforms in which to exchange ideas and present the latest immunolo ...

. He advises many organizations, including the National Cancer Institute on the Board of Scientific Counselors.

Research

The Kronenberg lab focuses on understanding innate-like lymphocytes, mainly natural killer T (NKT) cells, a subset of

T cells A T cell is a type of lymphocyte. T cells are one of the important white blood cells of the immune system and play a central role in the adaptive immune response. T cells can be distinguished from other lymphocytes by the presence of a T-cell re ...

that recognizes glycolipids and is involved in a variety of immune responses including autoimmune, anti-tumoral responses and antimicrobial responses. Kronenberg also has research in

mucosal immunology Mucosal immunology is the study of immune system responses that occur at mucosal membranes of the intestines, the urogenital tract, and the respiratory system. The mucous membranes are in constant contact with microorganisms, food, and inhaled a ...

and on the development of

inflammatory bowel diseases Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis being the principal types. Crohn's disease affects the small intestine and large intestine, as well a ...

. Kronenberg's work had a major impact in defining how glycolipid

antigens In immunology, an antigen (Ag) is a molecule or molecular structure or any foreign particulate matter or a pollen grain that can bind to a specific antibody or T-cell receptor. The presence of antigens in the body may trigger an immune response. ...

are taken into cells and processed in

lysosomes A lysosome () is a membrane-bound organelle found in many animal cells. They are spherical vesicles that contain hydrolytic enzymes that can break down many kinds of biomolecules. A lysosome has a specific composition, of both its membrane prote ...

and unraveled the intracellular traffic of

CD1d CD1D is the human gene that encodes the protein CD1d, a member of the CD1 (cluster of differentiation 1) family of glycoproteins expressed on the surface of various human antigen-presenting cells. They are non-classical MHC proteins, related to ...

, which is the

MHC class I MHC class I molecules are one of two primary classes of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules (the other being MHC class II) and are found on the cell surface of all nucleated cells in the bodies of vertebrates. They also occur on plat ...

molecule that presents lipid antigens. He has led the field in defining microbial antigens from environmental bacteria and from pathogenic microbes for mouse and human NKT cells, characterizing the biochemistry of antigen recognition, and has shown that NKT cells are protective in

Lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a vector-borne disease caused by the ''Borrelia'' bacterium, which is spread by ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. The most common sign of infection is an expanding red rash, known as erythema migran ...

and

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

. In the mucosal immune system, major findings from the Kronenberg laboratory have identified functions of another MHC class I antigen presenting molecule expressed in intestine epithelium, the Thymus Leukemia antigen. His work has determined how the balance of regulatory versus pro-inflammatory responses occurs, with breakthroughs in understanding the roles of

retinoic acid Retinoic acid (used simplified here for all-''trans''-retinoic acid) is a metabolite of vitamin A1 (all-''trans''-retinol) that mediates the functions of vitamin A1 required for growth and development. All-''trans''-retinoic acid is required in ...

and IL-10. Recently, they demonstrated that

HVEM Herpesvirus entry mediator (HVEM), also known as tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 14 (TNFRSF14), is a human cell surface receptor of the TNF-receptor superfamily. Nomenclature This protein was originally known as herpesvirus entr ...

, a

TNF receptor The tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily (TNFRSF) is a protein superfamily of cytokine receptors characterized by the ability to bind tumor necrosis factors (TNFs) via an extracellular cysteine-rich domain. With the exception of nerve growth ...

homolog, has enormous influence on the mucosal immune response by triggering protective innate anti-microbial responses against important pathogens by innate lymphoid cells type 3 (ILC3) and epithelial cells in the intestine.

Awards

Kronenberg was elected a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

in 2015. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the

(AAI) and was elected a Distinguished Fellow of the AAI in 2019.

Personal life

Kronenberg is married to Hilde Cheroutre, also a professor at La Jolla Institute and they have collaborated on a number of studies.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kronenberg, Mitchell 1951 births Living people University of California, Los Angeles faculty Columbia College (New York) alumni California Institute of Technology alumni American immunologists 20th-century American physicians Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science 20th-century American biologists 21st-century American physicians 21st-century American biologists