Scientific Institutions and Ethics

Columbia University says Dr. Richard Axel, a 2004 Nobel Prize winner in medicine, has resigned as co‑director of its Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute after newly released Justice Department Epstein files underscored his long‑running relationship and correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein. In a statement released Tuesday and quoted by the university, Axel called his association with Epstein "a serious error in judgment" that he "deeply regrets," apologized for compromising colleagues’ trust, and acknowledged the relationship is now "painful and inexcusable" given what is known about Epstein’s abuse. Columbia stressed it has "no evidence" Axel violated any law or school policy and said he has not been accused of wrongdoing, but confirmed he is relinquishing his leadership role while remaining a professor; Axel has also stepped down as an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The article notes that Axel appeared multiple times in the DOJ files and continued to praise Epstein’s intellect to New York Magazine in 2007 and to interact with him after his 2008 Florida sex‑crime conviction, a pattern that fits with a broader wave of elite resignations and investigations as more details of Epstein’s network become public. On social media and in academic circles, the case is intensifying calls for universities and major funders to be transparent about which prominent scholars maintained ties to Epstein and why those relationships continued after his conviction.