Boaz Levi is an Associate Investigator in the Brain Health Accelerator at the Allen Institute. He and his colleagues have developed and characterized enhancer-AAVs to mark and manipulate neural cell types across species. His group generated single-cell ATAC-seq data from the human cortex and identifyied enhancers active only in specific neuronal and glial populations (Mich et al., 2021; Mich, Sunil et al., 2025). Using these data, Dr. Levi and colleagues built suites of enhancer-AAVs that drive gene expression in selected brain cell populations and showed that these vectors often mark orthologous cell types across species (Mich et al., 2021; Graybuck et al., 2021; Ben-Simon et al., 2025).

Using these enhancer-AAVs, Dr. Levi’s team has developed several gene therapy approaches for otherwise untreatable neurological conditions, including Dravet syndrome and SYNGAP1-related disorder. The team used a dual-virus gene supplementation strategy to express the oversized SCN1A transgene in inhibitory neurons, achieving robust rescue in disease models (published in Science Translational Medicine; Mich, Ryu et al., 2025). The team also established proof of concept that neuron-selective SYNGAP1 gene supplementation can rescue a mouse model of the disease, as reported in Molecular Therapy (Quinlan et al., 2025). Additional studies for a third indication are under revision. Together, these studies show that cell type-selective approaches can improve the safety and efficacy of gene therapies.

Before shifting his focus to enhancer discovery and gene therapy development, Dr. Levi and his team built and characterized a model of human cortical development using embryonic stem cells. The team also developed methods for single-cell transcriptomic analysis of fixed human brain tissue, contributing to the discovery of the first markers of outer radial glia. In parallel, he helped establish single-cell transcriptomics data-generation processes at the Allen Institute that enabled landmark studies defining brain cell-type taxonomies across species.

Before joining the Allen Institute, Dr. Levi conducted postdoctoral research on stem cells and regenerative medicine at the University of Michigan. He earned a PhD in Biochemistry from Stanford University, where he studied the genetics and developmental biology of organ formation. Dr Levi earned an undergraduate degree in Chemistry/Biochemistry at the University of Oregon.