Yasmine Belkaid

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Yasmine Belkaid

| image = Yasmine Belkaid, Faculté de Médecine, Tlemcen.jpg

| caption = Belkaid in 2024

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1968}}

| birth_place = Algiers, Algeria

| fields = Immunology, Microbiology

| workplaces = National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
University of Pennsylvania

| alma_mater = University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene
University of Paris-Sud
Pasteur Institute

| known_for = Microbiome

| awards = Sanofi-Pasteur Award

| website =

}}

Yasmine Belkaid ({{langx|ar|ياسمين بلقايد}}; born 1968) is an Algerian immunologist who is best known for her work studying host-microbe interactions in tissues and immune regulation to microbes. Belkaid currently serves as the director of the NIAID Microbiome program.{{Cite web|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/keep-your-gut-healthy-and-your-skin-may-follow|title=Keep your gut healthy – and your skin may follow|last=hermes|date=September 4, 2018|website=The Straits Times|language=en|access-date=April 14, 2019}} On March 29, 2023, she was appointed as President of the Pasteur Institute for a six-year term, starting from January 2024.{{cite web |url=https://www.pasteur.fr/en/press-area/press-documents/professor-yasmine-belkaid-appointed-institut-pasteur-president |title=Professor Yasmine Belkaid appointed Institut Pasteur President |publisher=Institut Pasteur |date=March 31, 2023 }}

Early life and education

Belkaid was born and raised in Algiers, Algeria. Her father was Algerian politician Aboubakr Belkaid, who was assassinated on September 28, 1995, during the Black Decade.{{cite web |url=https://www.algerie360.com/cinquieme-edition-des-prix-sanofi-yasmine-belkaid-primee-pour-sa-recherche-sur-limmunologie/ |title=Cinquième édition des prix SANOFI: Yasmine Belkaïd primée pour sa recherche sur l'immunologie |publisher=algerie360.com |language=fr |date=December 25, 2016 }} She received her bachelor's and master's degrees in biochemistry from the University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene{{efn|During her studies, Belkaid worked at the Pasteur Institute of Algeria, where she was responsible for improving diagnostic methods for leishmaniasis.}} as well as a Master of Advanced Studies from University of Paris-Sud. She earned her doctorate in immunology from the Pasteur Institute in 1996, where she studied innate immune responses to Leishmania infection.

Career

= Academia =

Following graduate school, she moved to the United States for a postdoctoral fellowship at NIAID's Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases. In 2002, she joined the faculty of the Division of Molecular Immunology in Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center before returning to NIAID in 2005 as Head of the Mucosal Immunology Unit in the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases. In 2008, she became adjunct Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.{{Cite web|url=http://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g20000220/p8159659|title=UPENN Biomedical Graduate Studies {{!}} Yasmine Belkaid|website=www.med.upenn.edu|access-date=July 23, 2018}}

= Research =

File:Yasmine Belkaid, 50e anniversaire de l'Université Abou Bekr Belkaid de Tlemcen.webm in Tlemcen, named in memory of her late father.]]

Belkaid's research focuses on untangling the mechanisms underlying host-microbe interactions in the gastrointestinal tract and on the skin, which are natural barrier sites between the host's inner workings and their external environment.{{Cite news|url=https://irp.nih.gov/our-research/research-in-action/the-microbiome-when-good-bugs-go-bad|title=The Microbiome: When Good Bugs Go Bad|date=May 20, 2014|work=NIH Intramural Research Program|access-date=July 25, 2018|language=en}} This also includes the role microbiota play in promoting immunity against infection against other harmful pathogens.{{Cite journal|last1=Belkaid|first1=Yasmine|last2=Hand|first2=Timothy W.|date=March 2014|title=Role of the Microbiota in Immunity and Inflammation|journal=Cell|volume=157|issue=1|pages=121–141|doi=10.1016/j.cell.2014.03.011|issn=0092-8674|pmc=4056765|pmid=24679531}} Her group has contributed to the scientific understanding of how the host immune system can distinguish good microbes from the bad.{{Cite journal|last1=Grainger|first1=John R.|last2=Wohlfert|first2=Elizabeth A.|last3=Fuss|first3=Ivan J.|last4=Bouladoux|first4=Nicolas|last5=Askenase|first5=Michael H.|last6=Legrand|first6=Fanny|last7=Koo|first7=Lily Y.|last8=Brenchley|first8=Jason M.|last9=Fraser|first9=Iain D.C.|date=June 2013|title=Inflammatory monocytes regulate pathologic responses to commensals during acute gastrointestinal infection|journal=Nature Medicine|volume=19|issue=6|pages=713–721|doi=10.1038/nm.3189|issn=1078-8956|pmc=3755478|pmid=23708291}}{{Cite journal|last1=Naik|first1=Shruti|author-link=Shruti Naik|last2=Bouladoux|first2=Nicolas|last3=Wilhelm|first3=Christoph|last4=Molloy|first4=Michael J.|last5=Salcedo|first5=Rosalba|last6=Kastenmuller|first6=Wolfgang|last7=Deming|first7=Clayton|last8=Quinones|first8=Mariam|last9=Koo|first9=Lily|date=August 31, 2012|title=Compartmentalized control of skin immunity by resident commensals|journal=Science|volume=337|issue=6098|pages=1115–1119|doi=10.1126/science.1225152|issn=1095-9203|pmc=3513834|pmid=22837383|bibcode=2012Sci...337.1115N }}

Belkaid's research also led to the discovery of certain skin microbes that play an important role in immune defense. They carried out this experiment using mice that had no naturally-occurring microbes in their skin or gut so they could colonize those mice with only one strain of "good" bacteria. They then infected the colonized and bacteria-free mice with a parasite and found that those without the "good" bacteria were unable to fight back against the parasite, while those with the bacteria mounted an effective immune response. Her team has also found that beneficial bacteria living on the surface of the skin can also accelerate wound healing in mice.{{Cite journal|last1=Linehan|first1=Jonathan L.|last2=Harrison|first2=Oliver J.|last3=Han|first3=Seong-Ji|last4=Byrd|first4=Allyson L.|last5=Vujkovic-Cvijin|first5=Ivan|last6=Villarino|first6=Alejandro V.|last7=Sen|first7=Shurjo K.|last8=Shaik|first8=Jahangheer|last9=Smelkinson|first9=Margery|date=February 2018|title=Non-classical Immunity Controls Microbiota Impact on Skin Immunity and Tissue Repair|journal=Cell|volume=172|issue=4|pages=784–796.e18|doi=10.1016/j.cell.2017.12.033|issn=0092-8674|pmc=6034182|pmid=29358051}} Belkaid's group also studies what happens when there are imbalances in our microbiome. Belkaid's research has advanced scientific understanding of how shifts in microbiota can contribute to disease, particularly chronic inflammatory diseases like Crohn's disease and Psoriasis.{{Cite journal|last1=Hand|first1=Timothy W.|last2=Vujkovic-Cvijin|first2=Ivan|last3=Ridaura|first3=Vanessa K.|last4=Belkaid|first4=Yasmine|date=December 2016|title=Linking the Microbiota, Chronic Disease, and the Immune System|journal=Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism |volume=27|issue=12|pages=831–843|doi=10.1016/j.tem.2016.08.003|issn=1879-3061|pmc=5116263|pmid=27623245}}{{Cite journal|last1=Man|first1=Si Ming|last2=Kaakoush|first2=Nadeem O.|last3=Mitchell|first3=Hazel M.|date=March 2011|title=The role of bacteria and pattern-recognition receptors in Crohn's disease|journal=Nature Reviews. Gastroenterology & Hepatology|volume=8|issue=3|pages=152–168|doi=10.1038/nrgastro.2011.3|issn=1759-5053|pmid=21304476|s2cid=14009791}}{{Cite journal|last1=Fonseca|first1=Denise Morais da|last2=Hand|first2=Timothy W.|last3=Han|first3=Seong-Ji|last4=Gerner|first4=Michael Y.|last5=Glatman Zaretsky|first5=Arielle|last6=Byrd|first6=Allyson L.|last7=Harrison|first7=Oliver J.|last8=Ortiz|first8=Alexandra M.|last9=Quinones|first9=Mariam|date=October 8, 2015|title=Microbiota-Dependent Sequelae of Acute Infection Compromise Tissue-Specific Immunity|journal=Cell|volume=163|issue=2|pages=354–366|doi=10.1016/j.cell.2015.08.030|issn=1097-4172|pmc=4826740|pmid=26451485}}{{Cite journal|date=March 27, 2014|title=Role of the Microbiota in Immunity and Inflammation|journal=Cell|language=en|volume=157|issue=1|pages=121–141|doi=10.1016/j.cell.2014.03.011|pmid=24679531|pmc=4056765|issn=0092-8674|last1=Belkaid|first1=Yasmine|last2=Hand|first2=Timothy W}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.biospace.com/article/2019-fnih-lurie-prize-in-biomedical-sciences-winner-uncovered-the-microbiome-s-critical-role-in-immune-regulation/|title=2019 FNIH Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences Winner Uncovered the Microbiome's Critical Role in Immune Regulation|website=BioSpace|language=en-US|access-date=June 5, 2019}}

Awards and honors

2013 – Gold Medal, International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology[https://www.aai.org/AAISite/media/Temporary-Files/Uni_MR_Emil_von_Behring_Preis_2017_eng.pdf Yasmine Belkaid wins Emil von Behring-Prize 2017]
2016 – Sanofi-Pasteur International Mid-career Award {{Cite news|url=https://www.pasteur.fr/fr/nous-soutenir/comment-nous-soutenir/entreprises-fondations/ils-nous-soutiennent/sanofi-institut-pasteur-awards/award-winners-2016|title=The Award Winners 2016|date=February 3, 2017|work=Institut Pasteur|access-date=July 23, 2018|language=fr}}
2016 – Elected Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology{{Cite news|url=https://www.asm.org/index.php/aam-fellows/aam-fellows/fellows-elected-in-2016/item/4603-yasmine-belkaid|title=Yasmine Belkaid|access-date=July 23, 2018|language=en-gb}}
2017 – Emil von Behring Prize{{Cite web|url=https://www.lifepr.de/inaktiv/philipps-universitaet-marburg/Yasmine-Belkaid-erhaelt-den-Emil-von-Behring-Preis-2017/boxid/638649|title=Yasmine Belkaid erhält den Emil von Behring-Preis 2017 – Philipps-Universität Marburg – Pressemitteilung|website=www.lifepr.de|language=de|access-date=July 23, 2018}}
2017 – Elected to the National Academy of Sciences{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/20041786.html|title=Yasmine Belkaid|website=www.nasonline.org|access-date=July 23, 2018}}
2018 – Elected to the National Academy of Medicine{{cite web |title=About the NAM |url=https://nam.edu/about-the-nam/#ert_pane1-1 |website=National Academy of Medicine |access-date=May 2, 2019}}
2019 – Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences, Foundation for the National Institutes of Health{{Cite web|url=https://fnih.org/news/press-releases/2019-lurie-prize|title=2019 FNIH Lurie Prize in Biomedical Sciences Winner Uncovered the Microbiome's Critical Role in Immune Regulation|website=www.fnih.org|access-date=April 5, 2019}}
2020 – Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences{{Cite web|title=Yasmine Belkaid|url=https://www.amacad.org/person/yasmine-belkaid|access-date=January 9, 2021|website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences|language=en}}
2021 – Robert Koch Prize[https://www.robert-koch-stiftung.de/preise/robert-koch-preis Robert-Koch-Preis 2021]
2024 - Arab Genius Award