Dr Richard Axel, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist at Columbia University, has become the latest big name to emerge in the continuing aftershocks of the US Department of Justice releasing millions of files on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Axel, whose work Columbia said “has transformed the understanding of how the brain perceives the world and has also led to the production of life-saving protein-based therapy,” said he has stepped down as co-director of the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute and as an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) after his name figured in the Epstein files.
The New York Times said he is “not accused of wrongdoing in connection with Mr. Epstein. But the files show that he was a frequent guest of Mr. Epstein’s at his Manhattan home and that he also served as an intermediary on Mr. Epstein’s behalf with Columbia officials involved in admissions and philanthropy.”
Epstein, who allegedly ran an international paedophile ring and is suspected to have used children to curry favours with the world’s richest and most powerful, died awaiting trial in a New York prison. His longtime girlfriend and accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, is serving a 20-year sentence in a minimum security prison.
The millions of files released about Epstein have had repercussions across the globe, ranging from Bill Gates giving the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi a miss to Britain’s ex-prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor being arrested.
British police arrested former UK ambassador Peter Mandelson on Monday in a misconduct probe stemming from his ties with Epstein. Norway’s ex-PM Thorbjørn Jagland is facing charges as well.
Earlier this month, Maxwell refused to answer questions from the US House Oversight Committee unless President Donald Trump granted her clemency.
“I have informed Columbia University that I will step down as co-director of the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute to focus on research and teaching in my lab. I also informed HHMI that I will resign my position as an HHMI Investigator,” Axel said in a statement.
“My past association with Jeffrey Epstein was a serious error in judgment, which I deeply regret. I apologize for compromising the trust of my friends, students, and colleagues. I recognize the problems this has caused, and I will work to restore this trust. What has emerged about Epstein’s appalling conduct, the harm that he has caused to so many people, makes my association with him all the more painful and inexcusable.
“The research I have pursued as an Investigator at HHMI and as a professor at Columbia, along with the privilege of mentoring generations of young scientists, will continue to be among the most meaningful commitments of my life. I am deeply grateful to HHMI for its unwavering belief that basic science, pursued with rigor and imagination, will profoundly benefit the world. I will continue to pursue my lab’s research at the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia. I have been a professor at Columbia for 53 years and remain devoted to this exceptional institution,” he added.
Columbia said it “has seen no evidence that Dr Axel violated any University policy or the law. However, Dr Axel made clear that in light of this past association, and the continued fallout from the release of DOJ files, he felt it appropriate to relinquish his position as co-director. The University agrees with this decision, while at the same time recognizing his extraordinary contributions to the University and his dedication to his colleagues, to his students, and to science.”
Axel will continue to pursue his research and teaching in his lab at the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia, the university said.