Faculty & Staff

Anastasia Levitin, PhD

Anastasia Levitin

Dr. Levitin, who joined KGI in March 2013, earned her BSc in Biochemistry and PhD in Biology, specializing in Plant Biotechnology, from Concordia University in Canada. During her doctoral studies, she investigated the biochemical pathways regulating the circadian clock and the initiation of flowering in plants, conducting part of her research at the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry in Halle, Germany.

Following her PhD, Dr. Levitin pursued postdoctoral research at McGill University Medical School and the National Research Council of Canada, where she studied the pathogenicity mechanisms of the fungus Candida albicans. She then continued her postdoctoral work at Stanford University School of Medicine and the Department of Biology, focusing on toxin production and drug-resistance mechanisms in Bacillus species.

At Keck Graduate Institute, Dr. Levitin's research centers on host-pathogen interactions and microbial toxins, with an emphasis on developing host-oriented therapies using drug repurposing of FDA-approved small-molecule drugs.

In addition to her research, Dr. Levitin serves as the Director of KGI's Master of Science in Applied Life Sciences program, the Master of Community Health Administration program, and the Advanced Skills Training in Medical Assistance workshop.

  1. Martchenko Shilman M, Bartolo G, Alameh S, Peterson JW, Lawrence WS, Peel JE, Sivasubramani SK, Beasley DWC, Cote CK, Demons ST, Halasahoris SA, Miller LL, Klimko CP, Shoe JL, Fetterer DP, McComb R, Ho CC, Bradley KA, Hartmann S, Cheng LW, Chugunova M, Kao CY, Tran JK, Derbedrossian A, Zilbermintz L, Amali-Adekwu E, Levitin A, West J. In Vivo Activity of Repurposed Amodiaquine as a Host-Targeting Therapy for the Treatment of Anthrax. ACS Infect Dis. 2021 Aug 13;7(8):2176-2191
  2. Bartolo G, Gonzalez LO, Levitin A, Martchenko Shilman M., Drosophila melanogaster Y Chromosome Genes Affect Male Sensitivity to Microbial Infections, Insects. 2021 Jan 5;12(1):30
  3. Khaw TH, Wong SNM, Herle G, Gonzalez Dahua JP, Logan A, Alameh S, Martchenko Shilman M, Levitin A. Identification of bithionol, dichlorophen, and miconazole as anti-bacterial agents against Acinetobacter calcoaceticus. ACS Omega. 2020 Sept 8;5(37):23951–23959
  4. Alameh S, Bartolo G, O’Brien S, Henderson EA, Gonzalez LO, Hartmann S, Klimko CP, Shoe JL, Cote CK, Grill LK, Levitin A*, Martchenko Shilman M*. Anthrax toxin component, Protective Antigen, protects insects from bacterial infections. PLoS Pathog. 2020 Aug 31;16(8):e1008836
  5. Amakawa M, Gunawardana S, Jabbour A, Hernandez A, Pasos C, Alameh S, Martchenko Shilman M, Levitin A. Repurposing clinically approved drugs for the treatment of Bacillus cereus, surrogate for Bacillus anthracis. ACS Omega. 2020 Aug 18;5(34):21929–21939
  6. Hartmann S, Nusbaum D, Kim K, Alameh S, Ho CL, Cruz R, Levitin A, Bradley K, Martchenko M. The role of a small molecule in the modulation of cell death signal transduction pathways. ACS Infect Dis. 2018 Dec 14;4(12):1746-1754.
  7. Kim K, Cote CK, Demons ST, Halasahoris SA, Miller LL, Klimko CP, Shoe JL, Fetterer DP, Tran SH, Zozaya J, Leonardi W, West J, Levitin A, Martchenko M. High doses of host-oriented anti-toxin drugs increase the sensitivity of hosts to microbial infections. Sci Rep. 2016; 6:34846.
  8. Zilbermintz L, Leonardi W, Tran SH, Zozaya J, Mathew-Joseph A, Liem S, Levitin A, Martchenko M. Cross-inhibition of pathogenic agents and the host proteins they exploit. Sci Rep. 2016 Oct 5;6:34846.
  9. Leonardi W, Zilbermintz L, Cheng LW, Zozaya J, Tran SH, Elliott JH, Polukhina K, Manasherob R, Li A, Chi X, Gharaibeh D, Kenny T, Zamani R, Soloveva V, Haddow AD, Nasar F, Bavari S, Bassik MC, Cohen SN, Levitin A, Martchenko M. Bithionol blocks pathogenicity of bacterial toxins, ricin, and Zika virus. Sci Rep. 2016 Sep 30;6:34475.
  10. Zilbermintz, L., Leonardi, W., Jeong, S.Y., Sjodtc, M., McComb, R., Hoe, C.L.C., Rettererd, C., Gharaibeh, D., Zamani, R., Soloveva, V., Bavari, S., Levitin, A., West, J., Bradley, K.A., Clubb, R.T., Cohen, S.N., Gupta, V., Martchenko, M. Identification of agents effective against multiple toxins and viruses by host-oriented cell targeting. Sci Rep. 2015 Aug 27;5:13476.

Dr. Levitin's research emphasizes studying host-pathogen interaction and the development of host-oriented therapies using drug repurposing for infectious diseases. It bridges basic research with translational applications, offering new solutions for combating microbial infections and addressing challenges in antimicrobial resistance.

Key areas of research interest and accomplishments include:

  • Preclinical Drug Studies: Involving two small-molecule drugs across various animal models (mice, rats, and rabbits) to evaluate their safety and anti-infective potential against anthrax and botulinum toxins.
  • Pathogen Transmission by Insects: Investigating how microbial toxins influence insect sensitivity to environmental microbes. This effort identified secreted toxins from Bacillus anthracis and Clostridium septicum that increase susceptibility through a potential lure mechanism, offering insights into pathogen-insect dynamics.
  • Bacterial Pathogens and Drug Discovery: Conducting drug screens to identify broad-spectrum, host-oriented antibacterial drugs. This work led to the identification of several repurposed small-molecule drugs effective against bacterial and viral pathogens.
  • Host-Pathogen Interactions: Developing bacterial and fungal infection models using Drosophila melanogaster. These models facilitate the discovery of host and pathogen genes critical to the infection process, providing a platform for studying microbial pathogenesis and therapeutic targets.
  • Adaptive Antibiotic Resistance: Identifying bacterial genes essential for non-mutational antibiotic resistance in human pathogens using advanced genetic, biochemical, and bioinformatics approaches to explore transient antibiotic resistance mechanisms and develop strategies to counteract them.