Michael Carroll

Michael Carroll is a Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Senior Investigator in the Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital. With a distinguished career spanning over three decades since his appointment as Assistant Professor in 1985, Dr. Carroll has established himself as a leading expert in immunology, particularly in B cell biology, autoimmunity, and neuroimmunology. His laboratory employs cutting-edge techniques including transgenic mouse models, intravital imaging, scRNA-seq, and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to investigate fundamental immunological processes.

Dr. Carroll's research focuses on two major interconnected areas: the regulation of autoreactive germinal centers in autoimmune diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and the role of the complement system in neuropsychiatric disorders including schizophrenia. His groundbreaking work demonstrated how the complement component C4 influences synaptic pruning in the brain, providing a mechanistic link between immune function and neuropsychiatric disease.

His publication record demonstrates consistent productivity with numerous high-impact papers in top journals including Nature, Nature Neuroscience, and Science Immunology, with recent work continuing through 2025. His research has revealed how self-reactive B cells escape tolerance mechanisms, how epitope spreading occurs in autoimmunity, and how peripheral immune activation can affect brain function.

• American Arthritis Foundation Fellow and Investigator
• Pew Scholar award recipient
• 2016 Research Award by National Alliance for Mental Health

Dr. Carroll previously served as Director of the Harvard Graduate Program in Immunology from 2005-2016, mentoring numerous students and postdocs who have gone on to successful careers in immunology. His laboratory currently includes multiple postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and technicians working on projects related to B cell tolerance, germinal center biology, and neuroimmunology. His work has significant therapeutic implications for both autoimmune diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders, particularly in understanding how complement-targeted therapies might benefit patients with these conditions.