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A renowned neuroscientist from Columbia University, who also holds a Nobel Prize, has stepped down from several roles at the institution due to his connections with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender.
Richard Axel, who serves as the co-director of the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, received a Nobel Prize in 2004 for his groundbreaking discovery of over a thousand unique receptors in the nose that convey olfactory information to the brain.
In a statement shared with NewsNation, Axel expressed remorse over his past involvement with Epstein, stating, “My association with Jeffrey Epstein was a grave misjudgment on my part, and I am sincerely sorry for the breach of trust this has caused among my friends, students, and colleagues. I am committed to rebuilding this trust.”
He further commented, “The revelations about Epstein’s horrific actions and the damage he inflicted on countless individuals make my past association with him unbearably painful and unjustifiable.”
According to The New York Times, documents reveal that Axel had a friendship with Epstein, visiting his Manhattan residence multiple times and assisting him in making connections with university officials.
While Axel said he will step down as co-director of the institute and resign as an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, he will continue research and teaching at Columbia, where he has been a professor for over 50 years.
Columbia University said in a statement that Axel has broken no policies or laws in his interactions with Epstein, but the school agreed with the scientist’s decision.
“Dr. Axel’s work has transformed our understanding of how the brain perceives the world and has also led to the production of life-saving protein-based therapy,” the school wrote. “Dr. Axel, a Nobel Laureate, will continue to pursue his research and teaching in his lab at the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia.”
The Hill has reached out to Columbia University for comment.
The situation is the latest fallout for professors who have been found with ties to Epstein from the most recent batch of files released.