How does the immune system learn to tolerate the food we eat and the trillions of microbes that live in our gut, and why does this tolerance sometimes fail, leading to allergies and inflammatory bowel disease? These questions drive Ranit Kedmi’s research. Her work uncovered a previously unknown group of immune cells that initiates the process by which the immune system develops tolerance to harmless substances. Her lab further found that these cells are only the first step in a chain of interactions among different immune cells that work together to prevent unwanted responses to food. These discoveries suggest that immune tolerance is not controlled by a single cell type, but rather emerges from a coordinated network of communication among specialized cells. Her lab’s overarching goal is to systematically identify the players in this network and uncover their unique roles, ultimately paving the way for new approaches to restore tolerance in disease.

Ranit Kedmi, holder of the Rina Gudinski Career Development Chair, is a group leader in the Department of Systems Immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science. She trained in molecular biology, RNA delivery, and nanotechnology in Tel Aviv, received her PhD from Tel Aviv University, Israel, and completed her postdoctoral training with Dan Littman at the NYU School of Medicine in New York. In addition to being named a Vallee Scholar in 2026, she has received an ERC Starting Grant (2024), the Peter and Patricia Gruber Award (2025), and the Rising Star Award at the 19th International Congress of Immunology (2025), among other honors.

Kedmi Lab