Welcome to the Levy lab!

We are part of the Stanford Medicine Department of Pathology and Arc Institute.

We strive to develop new therapies for human diseases by transforming our understanding of host-environment interactions.

Research Focus

The intestinal host-environment interface comprises one of the most complex ecosystems on Earth. Dietary nutrients as well as bacterial, viral, and eukaryotic microbiomes influences many aspects of host physiology, but at the same time needs to be tightly regulated by the intestinal epithelium. We are particularly interested in understanding the consequences of this interface on disease risk in the context of cancer, chronic inflammatory diseases, metabolic diseases, and post-infection syndromes. We study this interplay using three complementary fields of research.

Intestinal epithelium

We are exploring new functions of the intestinal epithelium in the maintenance of host-diet-microbiota mutualism. A particular focus is on the integration of cellular function with the regulation of nutrient absorption and intestinal colonization by bacteria, viruses, and eukaryotes.

Metabolites

We are investigating the role of dietary and microbiome-derived metabolites as regulators of host immunity and metabolism. Of particular interest is the role of metabolites in inflammatory, infectious, and neoplastic disease.

Innate immunity

We are studying new modalities of innate immunity in classical and non-classical immune cells. We aim to decipher the integration of immune signaling pathways into cellular function.

Publications

Serotonin reduction in post-acute sequelae of viral infection

Andrea C. Wong, Ashwarya S. Devason, Iboro C. Umana, Timothy O. Cox, Lenka Dohnalová, Lev Litichevskiy, Jonathan Perla, Patrick Lundgren, Zienab Etwebi, Luke T. Izzo, Jihee Kim, Monika Tetlak, Hélène C. Descamps, Simone L. Park, Stephen Wisser, Aaron D. McKnight, Ryan D. Pardy, Junwon Kim, Niklas Blank, Shaan Patel, Katharina Thum, Sydney Mason, Jean-Christophe Beltra, Michaël F. Michieletto, Shin Foong Ngiow, Brittany M. Miller, Megan J. Liou, Bhoomi Madhu, Oxana Dmitrieva-Posocco, Alex S. Huber, Peter Hewins, Christopher Petucci, Candice P. Chu, Gwen Baraniecki-Zwil, Leila B. Giron, Amy E. Baxter, Allison R. Greenplate, Charlotte Kearns, Kathleen Montone, Leslie A. Litzky, Michael Feldman, Jorge Henao-Mejia, Boris Striepen, Holly Ramage, Kellie A. Jurado, Kathryn E. Wellen, Una O'Doherty, Mohamed Abdel-Mohsen, Alan L. Landay, Ali Keshavarzian, Timothy J. Henrich, Steven G. Deeks, Michael J. Peluso, Nuala J. Meyer, E. John Wherry, Benjamin A. Abramoff, Sara Cherry, Christoph A. Thaiss, Maayan Levy.

Cell • October 2023

Preterm birth is associated with xenobiotics and predicted by the vaginal metabolome

William F. Kindschuh, Federico Baldini, Martin C. Liu, Jingqiu Liao, Yoli Meydan, Harry H. Lee, Almut Heinken, Ines Thiele, Christoph A. Thaiss, Maayan Levy & Tal Korem

Nature • January 2023

β-Hydroxybutyrate suppresses colorectal cancer

Oxana Dmitrieva-Posocco, Andrea C. Wong, Patrick Lundgren, Aleksandra M. Golos, Hélène C. Descamps, Lenka Dohnalová, Zvi Cramer, Yuhua Tian, Brian Yueh, Onur Eskiocak, Gabor Egervari, Yemin Lan, Jinping Liu, Jiaxin Fan, Jihee Kim, Bhoomi Madhu, Kai Markus Schneider, Svetlana Khoziainova, Natalia Andreeva, Qiaohong Wang, Ning Li, Emma E. Furth, Will Bailis, Judith R. Kelsen, Kathryn E. Hamilton, Klaus H. Kaestner, Shelley L. Berger, Jonathan A. Epstein, Rajan Jain, Mingyao Li, Semir Beyaz, Christopher J. Lengner, Bryson W. Katona, Sergei I. Grivennikov, Christoph A. Thaiss, Maayan Levy

Nature • April 2022

All Publications

News

March 11, 2026

Gut microbes affect cognition during ageing

Nature News

All News

Team

Innovation Investigator

Dr. Maayan Levy

Maayan Levy is an Associate Professor of Pathology at Stanford University and an Innovation Investigator at the Arc Institute. Her lab studies metabotherapy—the use of metabolites as vehicles and targets to prevent and treat disease—with a particular focus on inflammatory and neurological diseases and cancer.

Maayan received her Ph.D. in Immunology from the Weizmann Institute of Science. Following her doctoral studies, she joined the faculty of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania before moving to Stanford. Her research explores the metabolite landscape of the gastrointestinal tract, its impact on whole-body physiology, and the potential of targeting intestinal metabolites for therapeutic interventions.

Among the recognitions she has received for her work are an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, a Pew Biomedical Scholars Award, a Searle Scholars Award, and a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award.