During his time in Philadelphia, Levy conducted research on Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) with Gertrude and Werner Henle at Children's Hospital and on B lymphocyte biology at the Wistar Institute with Dr. Vittorio Defendi.
[3] His work at the NIH on the FBJ (Finkel-Biskis-Jinkins) osteosarcoma virus [4] provided the background for the subsequent discovery of the fos/jun oncogene.
[5] Among his other discoveries is the presence of HIV in the brain [6] and bowel[7] and the demonstration of a noncytotoxic mechanism for controlling viral replication by CD8+ lymphocytes.
[8] This unexpected antiviral response that does not involve cell killing has subsequently been found in other viral infections including those of hepatitis and herpes viruses.
[10] Levy has published over 600 scientific articles and reviews and is the author or editor of 14 books dealing with virology and immunology.