Israeli Researcher Sues Stanford, Alleging Antisemitic Sabotage of Diabetes Work
A landmark case at the crossroads of science, identity, and the rising cost of being openly Jewish on campus.
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Dr. Shay Laps, an Israeli postdoctoral chemist, has filed a federal lawsuit against Stanford University and associate professor Dr. Danny Hung-Chieh Chou, alleging antisemitic discrimination, sabotage of his innovative insulin research, and wrongful termination from Stanford’s School of Medicine.
Filed on July 10, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the suit claims Laps faced relentless hostility tied to his Jewish and Israeli identity, leading to his forced resignation in October 2024. Represented by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and Cohen Williams LLP, Laps seeks damages for discrimination, retaliation, defamation, and breach of contract.
Laps joined Stanford’s Smart Insulin Research Lab in April 2024 to develop “smart” insulin, a potential breakthrough for diabetes treatment. With a Ph.D. from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and 18 publications, Laps was recruited by Chou, a pediatrics and endocrinology expert, after a competitive process backed by a Nobel laureate’s recommendation. Their work was funded by a prestigious grant and aimed to create insulin responsive to bodily needs.
The lawsuit alleges immediate hostility upon Laps’s arrival, worsened by post-October 7, 2023, campus tensions over the Israel-Hamas war. Lab staffer Terra Lin allegedly told Laps, the only Israeli in the lab, not to speak to her, including about lab supplies, and instructed colleagues to shun him in common areas.
Lin, reportedly active in pro-Palestinian campus protests, allegedly treated non-Jewish colleagues cordially. The suit claims she tampered with Laps’s insulin samples, introducing insulin to his compounds to produce fraudulent results, potentially framing him for misconduct. When Laps reported this to Chou in July 2024, Chou dismissed it as “minor errors” and declined to investigate.
In August 2024, Chou allegedly informed Laps of a Title IX investigation for sexual harassment based on an undergraduate’s complaint, threatening his career and visa status and urging resignation. Laps discovered no formal complaint existed, only an anonymous email alleging rule violations.
After filing discrimination complaints with Stanford in September, Laps’s lab access was revoked, and he was terminated, losing two years of his promised three-year postdoc and the grant. Appeals to Stanford President Jonathan Levin and School of Medicine Dean Lloyd Minor were ignored, the suit says, forcing Laps’s resignation and departure from the U.S.
Stanford denies the allegations, stating an internal investigation found Laps’s claims “unsubstantiated.” Spokesperson Dee Mostofi emphasized the university’s commitment to addressing antisemitism but said no discrimination or retaliation by Chou occurred. The lawsuit calls Stanford’s probe “predetermined” and inadequate. The university noted it had not received formal lawsuit notice as of July 9, 2025.
A May 2024 report acknowledged harassment of Jewish students at Stanford, and a U.S. Department of Education investigation into Title VI violations remains ongoing. Bu this seems to have escalated to a new level of disgraceful bigoted antisemitism. The lawsuit seeks unpaid wages, a defamation declaration, and an injunction against Stanford’s alleged discriminatory practices, highlighting the personal and professional toll on Laps’s diabetes research career.
Source: JNS, The Times of Israel, Louis D. Brandeis Center