\n<\/p>\n
February 25, 2026<\/p>\n
2 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Nobel Prize\u2013winning brain scientist steps down over Epstein ties<\/p>\n Richard Axel resigned from his post co-leading Columbia University\u2019s Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute over his long ties to Jeffrey Epstein<\/p>\n By Dan Vergano edited by Claire Cameron<\/span><\/p>\n Richard Axel and his wife, Cornelia Bargmann, in 2019.<\/p>\n On Tuesday Nobel Prize winner Richard Axel resigned as co-director Columbia University\u2019s Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute over his decade-long association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. A molecular biologist, Axel shared the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work revealing how the brain identifies odors.<\/p>\n \u201cMy past association with Jeffrey Epstein was a serious error in judgment, which I deeply regret,\u201d Axel said in a statement. He also announced he would no longer be an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. \u201cI apologize for compromising the trust of my friends, students, and colleagues,\u201d Axel said in the same statement.<\/p>\n Axel\u2019s resignation came after the Columbia University student newspaper, the Columbia Spectator, reported earlier this month that Axel and his wife were invited to Epstein\u2019s island in 2011\u2014three years after the financier\u2019s conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor\u2014but that the scientist did not go.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n Axel and Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges, had a long, public friendship, with the scientist praising Epstein in a 2007 New York Magazine article. The name \u201crichard axel\u201d appears 933 times in the Department of Justice\u2019s recently released Epstein files. (Numerous people are mentioned in the files, and their appearance alone does not indicate any wrongdoing.)<\/p>\n Axel is among several high-profile scientists to have been connected to Epstein, who was known for cultivating close connections with academics and science media, including Scientific American. Axel has in the past written three articles for Scientific American; the most recent was published in 2006.<\/p>\n In a statement released on Tuesday, Columbia University said that \u201cthe University has seen no evidence that Dr. Axel violated any University policy or the law.\u201d Axel will continue his research at the university, according to the statement. Axel did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Scientific American.<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s Note (2\/25\/26): This is a developing story and may be updated.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" February 25, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Nobel Prize\u2013winning brain scientist steps down over Epstein ties Richard Axel resigned from his post co-leading Columbia University\u2019s Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute over his long ties to Jeffrey Epstein By Dan Vergano edited by Claire Cameron Richard Axel and his wife,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[2121,3703,13708,9910,2136,2020,526],"class_list":{"0":"post-45219","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-brain","9":"tag-epstein","10":"tag-nobel","11":"tag-prizewinning","12":"tag-scientist","13":"tag-steps","14":"tag-ties"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/45220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s Time to Stand Up for Science<\/h2>\n