Rate My Professor Richard Axel

His early research developed gene transfer techniques that enabled the introduction of genes into cells and facilitated the production of clinically important proteins, including work on the CD4 receptor for HIV. He later applied molecular biology to neuroscience, focusing on the sense of smell. His laboratory identified more than one thousand odorant receptors and elucidated how olfactory information is organized and represented in the brain, research that earned him the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared with Linda B. Buck. Current work examines how odor recognition is translated into internal representations that guide behavior. Axel has received additional honors including the Gairdner International Award in 2003 and election as a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 2014. He stepped down as co-director of the Zuckerman Institute in 2026 to focus on research and teaching.