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Nobel Prize-winning Columbia neuroscientist resigns over Epstein ties Education | 2 minutes ago

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Nobel Prize-winning Columbia neuroscientist resigns over Epstein ties

A Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist at Columbia University resigned from some of his positions with the institution over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

Richard Axel, co-director of the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, won a Nobel Prize in 2004 for discovering over 1,000 special receptors in the nose that send olfactory information to the brain.  

“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,” Axel said in a statement obtained by NewsNation, The Hill’s sister network. “I recognize the problems this has caused, and I will work to restore this trust.”

He added, “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 Epstein files show Axel was friends with Epstein, going to his home in Manhattan multiple times and helping the disgraced financier with connections to university officials, The New York Times reported. 

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. 

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