Yasmine Belkaid earned her Master’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene in Algiers, Algeria and her PhD from the Institut Pasteur, France. After postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health in the United States, she launched her independent research program at the Children’s Hospital Research Foundation in Cincinnati. In 2005, she joined the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where she served as Chair of the Laboratory of Host Immunity and Microbiome, Director of the trans-NIH Center for Human Immunology, and Founder and Director of the NIAID Microbiome Program. In 2024, she returned to Europe and is currently President of the Institut Pasteur and Head of the Metaorganism Laboratory.

Yasmine Belkaid’s work explores fundamental mechanisms that regulate tissue structural and functional integrity and host immune responses. She uncovered key roles for the microbiota and dietary factors in the control of immunity and protection from pathogens.

Barrier Immunity

Yasmine Belkaid has explored how our bodies coexist with the countless microbes that live on and inside us. Her research focuses on “barrier sites” such as the gut, skin, and lungs – tissues that host rich microbial communities and are constantly exposed to environmental antigens. Our immune system is designed to protect us against harmful pathogens while tolerating harmless and useful microbes, the so-called microbiota, and inputs, including food. When immune responses at these sites are not properly regulated, the result can lead to conditions such as allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, or psoriasis.

Bringing together immunology, microbiology and modern genomic tools, Yasmine Belkaid’s work has shown how the microbiota helps train the immune system and guides our ability to tolerate everyday food and environmental exposures. She has uncovered key roles for nutrition and metabolites, particularly vitamin A, in shaping immunity in different human populations. Her team has also demonstrated how the immune system detects ancient viral sequences embedded in our DNA, using these once-dismissed “junk” elements to control inflammation and help tissues recover after injury.

Her work points to new ways to improve health, including microbiota-informed vaccines, dietary or metabolic approaches to boost barrier immunity, and strategies to prevent or reverse inflammation and immune damage triggered by infections. Her research continues to reshape our understanding of the essential partnership between humans and their microbial companions.

Louis-Jeantet Foundation’s selection committee:
Dario ALESSI, Geneviève ALMOUZNI, Marc DONATH, Anne FERGUSON-SMITH, Michel GEORGES, Michael HALL, Marc LECUIT, Jan LÖWE, Diane MATHIS, Rene MEDEMA, Peter RATCLIFFE, Caetano REIS E SOUSA, Caroline ROBERT, Alexander SCHIER, Erin SCHUMAN, Markus STOFFEL, Antoine TRILLER, Gisou VAN DER GOOT, Juleen ZIERATH

Yasmine BELKAID

Institut Pasteur

25 – 28 rue du Docteur Roux, 75015 Paris

E-mail:         presse@pasteur.fr

Website:      https://research.pasteur.fr/en/member/yasmine-belkaid/