Richard Axel

Richard Axel is an American neuroscientist whose work on the olfactory system won him and Linda B. Buck, a former post-doctoral scientist in his research group, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2004. In their landmark paper published in 1991, Buck and Axel cloned olfactory receptors, showing that they belong to the family of G protein coupled receptors. This research opened the door to the genetic and molecular analysis of the mechanisms of olfaction. Axel is an Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Professor of Columbia University. He is also a member of the Kavli Institute for Brain Science at Columbia University. 1967- A.B Columbia University, New York, N.Y. 1970- M.D. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 1978- Professor, Pathology & Biochemistry, Columbia University 1984- Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University 1999- University Professor, Columbia University