Dr Richard Axel, who jointly won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2004 along with Dr Linda B Buck announced his resignation from his current post at Columbia University over his past association with Jeffrey Epstein. Axel said he would continue his research but will no longer remain the co-director of Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute after the latest tranche of Epstein files reveal his close contact with Epstein over the years.
Axel regretted his association with Epstein and said it was a "serious error of judgment", apologizing to his friends, students and colleagues. “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," Axel said.
