Carlo Croce was born in Milan, Italy and studied medicine at the Sapienza University of Rome. While he initially came to the United States to do medicine at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, he ultimately worked at the Wistar Institute with his mentor Hilary Koprowski. There he worked on cell fusion, helping to make the first antiviral and antitumor cell monoclonal antibodies. While at Wistar, Croce, along with Koprowski, Michael Wall, and Ted Allen, formed Centocor, which commercialized monoclonal antibody technology. After leaving Centocor, Croce held positions at Temple University and Thomas Jefferson University, where his research shifted to cloning cancer genes after years of working with cell fusion and tumor viruses. While at Jefferson, Croce and his research teams’ focus shifted to microRNAs and their role in the progression of cancer. Croce has also maintained a life-long interest in art and has been an avid collector of Italian Renaissance and Baroque paintings.