Dr. Richard Axel is stepping down as co-director of Columbia University's Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute after renewed scrutiny of his past association with deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Columbia said Axel informed the university that he will relinquish the leadership role, while continuing his research and teaching at the institute.
The university said in a statement that it has "no evidence that Dr. Axel violated any university policy or law," but agreed that, given the continued fallout from the release of Department of Justice files, it was appropriate for him to step aside.
Columbia described Axel, 79, a Nobel laureate and founding co-director of the institute, as having guided the institute since its inception and credited him with major scientific contributions.
Axel said in a statement that his past association with Epstein was a "serious error in judgment." Axel apologized for "compromising the trust of my friends, students, and colleagues" and said that what has emerged about Epstein's conduct makes the association "all the more painful and inexcusable."
Axel also announced that he has resigned as an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, but said he will continue to pursue research and teaching in his lab at Columbia, where he has been a professor for 53 years.
The New York Times reported that Justice Department files released in late January show Axel maintained a relationship with Epstein after Epstein's 2008 conviction, including being a guest at Epstein's Manhattan home.
The Times also reported that the files indicate Axel served as an intermediary on Epstein's behalf in communications involving Columbia admissions and philanthropy.
Axel has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. Columbia said it would not comment beyond its statement, and Axel did not respond to a request for comment from the Times.
Fallout from the continued release of Epstein files by the federal government continues to reverberate.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., told Newsmax on Tuesday that Democrats are doing everything they can to link President Donald Trump to salacious allegations in the government's Epstein files.
"Democrats have chosen to use this as a political smear. I vehemently condemn that because that's not right by the victims," Luna said. "It's not right by justice. And President Trump has been exonerated."
Jim Mishler ✉
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