By Sheeva Azma
Note: Sorry, this post will not be updated as I learn more information (so many scientist mentions — so little time). I wrote this post on March 2, 2026, when I had scheduled out a good two weeks’ worth of reels on our Instagram about scientists in the Epstein files and had plans for putting together several more. Since then, I may have discovered a few more scientists…check out our Instagram for the most up-to-date info.
Many of the people we celebrated as science’s best and brightest have abused their privilege and clout by associating with Jeffrey Epstein.
I’m one of those people who is way too curious for my own good.
That’s probably why, on February 2, 2026, I had an odd idea to visit the Epstein Files website at the US Department of Justice website and type in schools I attended. So, I did.
Well, I immediately found my own professor, Mark Tramo, MD, PhD, who is mentioned in the files 1,098 times! I created an Instagram reel about it and sent it to the MIT Tech, which is the MIT campus newspaper. They replied and said they had a story in the works, and shortly thereafter, it was published.
A woman found my reel and protested outside Mark Tramo’s office at UCLA … and the school’s music department dropped him as an adjunct professor there. I wonder how many scientists, like me, have helped fire their own professor from something?
It was a sad realization to learn that all the people I found to be absolute visionaries were just abusing their privilege and clout. These are people whose work I looked up to, but could never be on their level for so many reasons. Now I know why.
I have not seen much coverage of this in the mainstream media. So, allow me to do their work for them as an aspiring investigative journalist myself, and summarize the results of my month-long obsessive reading of scientist mentions of the Epstein files in my free time. The Epstein files website is so difficult to use and even though places like Reuters say they are using AI, you learn so much more (even if it’s a lot slower) if you go straight to the source — searching for one keyword or phrase at a time, because that’s all the DOJ Epstein files website allows.
Before we get to the list of scientists, I would like to clarify that not all of the scientists mentioned here were talking to Epstein. Some are just named and do not have any record of correspondence with him. Epstein was a science philanthropist who frequently used his association to elite universities such as MIT and Harvard to gain clout elsewhere. He was so involved in research at MIT that he met with professors to come up with novel projects, and even pitched this research to publications such as Scientific American.
I was shocked by how many people, including the Alzheimer’s Association, email Epstein to ask him for funding for their different projects, all the way up until Epstein’s death in prison in 2019. You see Epstein make fun of himself a couple of times as the emails progress, noting the fact that people don’t want to be associated with him due to his crimes.
It is interesting to see the different interactions Epstein had with these so-called “luminaries” — including Ed Boyden, the founder of optogenetics, which is a way to use light to control brain activity. Too bad he misrepresented his interactions with Epstein in the 2020 report from MIT with which he cooperated — the files now show at least one visit to Jeffrey Epstein’s ranch in New Mexico, which is now under active investigation by the state of New Mexico.
At least a couple scientists frustrated with how science funding works, including Seth Lloyd (mechanical engineer at MIT) and Antonio Damasio (neuroscientist at University of Southern California), reached out to Epstein for funding because they find traditional grant mechanisms bureaucratic and depriving them of creative liberties and research “control” (as Damasio says). One scientist, psychologist Steven Kosslyn, made Epstein a visiting researcher in Harvard’s psychology department in 2006.
I made an effort to read through all 5,000+ mentions of “MIT,” my alma mater, in the Epstein files yesterday (and got about halfway through in about 6 hours before I gave up). Reading through the emails gives you nuance that you do not get with AI tools (an AI tool would certainly make asking questions easier, but as we have learned, AI is not as reliable as the human brain).
In the Epstein files, it is not unusual to see Epstein talking shop with scientists, floating his own theories and offering to throw money at trying to figure them out. Epstein prided himself in funding politically incorrect, “woo woo” (his own words as quoted in this reel) research and distanced himself from disease research (which would actually help people) to instead focus on things like deception, plant communication, and, seemingly, random topics he learned about from these scientists that he found shiny and interesting (which did not serve anyone but himself and his ego, probably).
Anyway, enough about that — you can find all of these stories (and more) on our Instagram. On to the list!
The full list of scientists I have found in the Epstein files so far
Please note that this is not a comprehensive list. I do not have enough time, nifty AI tools, or brainpower for that. My goal is to give you an overview of who exactly is in the files and, if notable, what they are known for in them. Also, the number of hits in the Epstein files seems to have increased for some of these people over the past few weeks compared to the screenshots on the Instagram reels I put together, I noticed, in writing this list. So, there might be more files being added (though I have not verified that myself).
This list is produced in the order in which I talk about these scientists on our Instagram under the hashtag #ScienceInTheEpsteinFiles.
| Scientist Name | Field | Number of Mentions by Name Listed (name variations, as entered, may bring up different results) | Notable events (not comprehensive) | Our Reels in Which They Are Mentioned |
| Mark Tramo | neurology, music professor at UCLA, formerly with Harvard/MIT | 1,098 | details of Epstein-Tramo friendship reported by the Daily Bruin | Feb. 2 viral reel, Feb. 25a, Feb. 26 |
| Seth Lloyd | mechanical engineering professor at MIT | 1,295 | “received research funding, went to Epstein’s private island, and visited Epstein while he was in prison” per the MIT Tech | Feb. 2 viral reel, Feb. 26 |
| Marvin Minsky | computer science professor at MIT — widely regarded as the father of artificial intelligence | 825 (by full name, but he is also referred to as “marvin,” which appears 1802 times) | Marvin and his wife Gloria are approached to contribute to Epstein’s infamous Birthday Book; Marvin is also accused of sexual assault during a visit to Epstein’s island, per The Verge | Feb. 2 viral reel, Feb. 10, Feb. 17a, Feb. 20b |
| Sebastian Seung | neuroscience professor formerly at MIT until 2014, now at Princeton | 183 | stated he had “no relationship” with Epstein per the Princeton Alumni Weekly | Feb. 2 viral reel |
| Robert B. Millard | business and corporate finance | 5 | was Chairman of MIT Corporation when he corresponded with Epstein | Feb. 2 viral reel |
| Elizabeth Loftus | neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, criminology and law professor at UC Irvine — specifically, researches false memories | 50 | testified on the defense team of Ghislaine Maxwell in Maxwell’s 2021 trial | Feb. 3 |
| Michelle Wang | program director for the San Francisco VA PTSD clinic | 48 | Mentioned in the files by William Spear, a philanthropist working on a program to prevent “full-blown onset” of PTSD and lessen symptoms and asked for $100,000 to cover Wang’s salary for two years | Feb. 5 |
| Stephen J. Gould | paleontologist and evolutionary biologist | 6 (4 for “Stephen J. Gould and 2 for “Stephen Gould”) | William Spear, a philanthropist, states in an email that he met Epstein in Gould’s apartment in approximately 1997 | Feb. 5 |
| Boris Nikolic | advisor working with the Gates Foundation | 14,621 | close associate of Epstein’s leading a jet-setting lifestyle as a biotech investment advisor | Feb. 5 |
| Laurie Leitch | neuroscientist | 19 | Researcher mentioned by William Spear to be supported by a donation by Epstein | Feb. 5 |
| Loree Sutton | former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Veterans’ Services | 3 | Researcher mentioned by William Spear to be supported by a donation by Epstein | Feb. 5 |
| Michael McCullough | healthcare investor and emergency physician and professor at UCSF | 11 | co-organizer of 2018 BrainMind Conference, a select brain gathering to which Epstein was invited | Feb. 5 |
| Ed Boyden | founder of optogenetics; MIT professor at the Media Lab and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences | 969 | documents show he visited Epstein’s ranch with Martin Nowak despite denying close ties with Epstein in a 2020 apology letter following a MIT report on Epstein of the same year | Feb. 5, Feb. 25c, Mar. 2b |
| Laura Roberts | psychiatrist and bioethicist at Stanford | 4 | co-organizer of 2018 BrainMind Conference, a select brain gathering to which Epstein was invited | Feb. 5 |
| Rita Colwell | microbiologist, professor, and previously, first woman to head the National Science Foundation | 12 | Epstein vaguely drops the phrase “no strings attached” in a text message in which he refers to her | Feb. 6 |
| Marc Hauser | disgraced professor of psychology (left Harvard in 2011 due to scientific misconduct) | 353 | asked Jeffrey Epstein for funding for a novel, large-scale study of morality — and for advice related to being investigated by Harvard | Feb. 7, Feb. 16b, Feb. 26, Mar. 2a |
| Jess Ting | plastic surgeon and breast cancer researcher at Mount Sinai Medical Center | 462 | asked for money from Epstein for breast cancer research with Doris Germain and to support a research assistant whose funding was ending | Feb. 9 |
| Doris Germain | researcher at Mount Sinai Medical Center | 14 | collaborator with Jess Ting on published breast cancer research allegedly funded by Epstein | Feb. 9 |
| Murray Gell-Man | theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize winner | 129 | contributed to Epstein’s birthday book per the Columbia Spectator | Feb. 10a, Feb. 17a |
| Gerald Sussman | computer science professor at MIT | 19 | Listed as “will bring an excellent telescope and lead a tour of heavenly bodies, but not the ones by the pool. Sorry.” for the 2011 Mindshift conference on Epstein’s private island | Feb. 10a |
| Pablos Holman | inventor and futurist | 249 | 2011 Mindshift conference attendee on Epstein’s private island | Feb. 10a |
| Frances Arnold | chemical engineer and biochemist, recipient of 2018 Nobel Prize, made a cameo on Big Bang Theory in 2019 | 101 | calls talking to Epstein “a lot of fun” in the files; led a “fun evolutionary word game” at the 2011 Mindshift conference on Epstein’s private island | Feb. 10a, Feb. 21 |
| Christof Koch | cognitive scientist and neurophysiologist known for his work on consciousness | 112 | 2011 Mindshift conference attendee with Epstein on Epstein’s private island | Feb. 10a |
| Leonard Mlodinow | theoretical physicist and mathematician | 46 | 2011 Mindshift conference attendee with Epstein on Epstein’s private island | Feb. 10a |
| Ron Reisman | NASA scientist | 76 | 2011 Mindshift conference attendee with Epstein on Epstein’s private island | Feb. 10a |
| Paul Kirkaas | software engineer | 73 | 2011 Mindshift conference attendee with Epstein on Epstein’s private island | Feb. 10a |
| Martin Nowak | mathematician and biologist currently on paid leave from his professorship at Harvard due to Epstein ties | 4,101 | led Harvard’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics (PED) funded by Epstein, where Epstein had an office and met up with various high-profile scientists | Feb. 10b, Feb. 25a, Feb. 26, Mar. 2b |
| David Sloan Wilson | evolutionary biologist | 17 | ran a project funded by National Science Foundation that had an uncertain future so someone from that project, under the umbrella of this researcher, reached out to Epstein for money | Feb. 10b |
| Noam Chomsky | linguist, philosopher, social critic, and formerly an anti-war activist | 3,808 | Epstein refers to Chomsky by his first name often in the files; Chomsky is also friends with Steve Bannon (?!) | Feb. 12a |
| Kay Tye | neuroscientist at Salk Institute studying emotion, cognition, and social behavior via optogenetics (was at MIT in 2014, when she is mentioned here) | 5 | interviewed in the first season of Neuro.tv, which was made possible by an Epstein donation | Feb. 12b (check out this reel to see more scientists interviewed in this project) |
| Joshua Greene | moral judgement and decision-making researcher at Harvard | 51 | interviewed in the first season of Neuro.tv, which was made possible by an Epstein donation | Feb. 12b (check out this reel to see more scientists interviewed in this project) |
| Dale Purves | neuroscientist (one of the ones who “wrote the book” on neuroscience — I learned from his textbook as an undergrad at MIT) | 6 | interviewed in the first season of Neuro.tv, which was made possible by an Epstein donation | Feb. 12b (check out this reel to see more scientists interviewed in this project) |
| Linda Stone | former Microsoft and Apple employee; founder of a coding camp for youth | 89 (her name is likely also redacted a bunch of times, per my own research) | introduced Epstein to Joi Ito, former MIT Media Lab president who was super chummy with Epstein | Feb. 12c |
| Lawrence Krauss | former Arizona State professor before he left due to misconduct | 5,272 | makes a sexist statement to Epstein (who himself calls women in science “weak and a distraction” elsewhere); asked Epstein for help replying to a Buzzfeed media reporter who reached out in 2019 about Krauss’s misconduct at ASU | Feb. 13a, Feb. 16b, Feb. 17a, Feb. 26 |
| Eric Kandel | wrote THE book on neuroscience I used in grad school; won the Nobel Prize in 2000; retired in 2022 from Columbia U where he was a professor | 86 | Epstein wants to get dinner with him and colleagues in the files; Kandel sat next to Epstein at a formal Columbia dinner | Feb. 13b, Feb. 17b, Feb. 20b |
| Richard Axel | biologist and 2004 Nobel Prize winner for study of the olfactory system; currently on the faculty at Columbia U despite resigning from some roles | 933 | issued a statement on retiring from certain, but not all, research and professorial activities at Columbia on Feb. 24, 2026; Epstein files show he connected at least one young person in Epstein’s orbit with influential scientists | Feb. 13b, Feb. 19, Feb. 25b, Feb. 26, Feb. 27 |
| Paul Greengard | shared Nobel Prize with Kandel in 2000 | 22 | donated his Nobel Prize money to support women in science, but Epstein friend Leon Black funded OCD and depression research in his lab; Ghislaine Maxwell attended a dinner with Greengard | Feb. 13b, Feb. 26 |
| Michael Gazzaniga | neuroscientist | 36 | provides medical advice to John Templeton, Epstein’s colleague, but the whole email is redacted | Feb. 13b |
| V.S. Ramachandran | neuroscientist studying music and the brain | 33 (186 for just “Ramachandran”) | received lab funding from Epstein, per the UCSD Guardian | Feb. 13b, Feb. 20b, Feb. 26 |
| Steven Pinker | cognitive psychologist and psycholinguist, currently at Harvard | 278 (also 68 results for just “Steve Pinker”) | stated he did not like Epstein but did help Alan Dershowitz with Epstein’s defense case in 2007 | Feb. 13b |
| James Watson | late and now-disgraced scientist who won the 1962 Nobel Prize for the discovery of DNA by stealing credit from Rosalind Franklin | 109 | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Watson’s institution, also has 57 mentions | Feb. 13b |
| Corina Tarnita | evolutionary biologist and mathematician, and former grad student of Martin Nowak at Harvard PED | 344 | Epstein helps her sort out immigration paperwork and she thanks him in her thesis. She was also invited to the island and facilitates an exchange involving Epstein wire transfers of $15k involving two females from University of Iasi in Romania, all per emails and the Daily Princetonian | Feb. 15, Feb. 20b, Feb. 25a, Feb. 26 |
| Robert Langer | chemical engineering professor at MIT and the most-cited engineer in history | 27 for “Bob Langer,” but only 5 for “Robert Langer” | Per WBUR, Langer supported disgraced former MIT Media Lab head Joi Ito, who was chummy with Epstein. This support was expressed amidst Epstein fallout after a 2020 MIT report on Epstein involvement there | Feb. 16a |
| Larry Summers | economist who served in the Clinton and Obama administrations, former president of Harvard, recently resigning from the institute due to Epstein interactions, per Harvard Crimson | 5,774 | PBS relates that Epstein describes himself as Summers’ “wing man” in 2018 when Summers was pursuing a graduate student he was mentoring, despite Summers being married, at the time, to his current wife; bailed out science magazine Nautilus in the Epstein files | Feb. 16b, Feb. 23, Feb. 25a |
| Eric Lander | biology professor at MIT, former and now disgraced Biden presidential science advisor, co-founder of Human Genome Project, co-founding director of MIT/Harvard Broad Institute | 429 | not mentioned in 2020 MIT report on Epstein’s involvement with MIT, but met with Epstein, per The Tech | Feb. 17a, Feb. 17b, Feb. 20b, Feb. 26 |
| Daniel Kahneman | father of behavioral economics, Nobel Prize winner | 197 | got to meet Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn thanks to Epstein, per Andrew Gelman‘s blog | Feb. 17a |
| Steve Kosslyn | psych prof Emeritus at Harvard | 313 | called Epstein “one of the brightest people I’ve ever known” in 2003; wrote a recommendation letter to make Epstein a visiting researcher at Harvard in 2006, also per Harvard Crimson | Feb. 17a, Feb. 20b, Feb. 25a, Feb. 26 |
| Marcus Feldman | biologist at Stanford | 20 | meets with Epstein in the files | Feb. 17a |
| Jack Horner | paleontologist who inspired Jurassic Park | 457 | visited Epstein’s Zorro Ranch | Feb. 17b, Feb. 20a |
| George Church | geneticist at Harvard | 2,253 | Epstein facilitated donations of millions of dollars to fund Church and Nowak’s research, per a 2020 Harvard report | Feb. 20b |
| Geoffrey West | theoretical physicist; researcher at and former president of Santa Fe Institute | 230 | visited Epstein’s ranch, which was located only 40 miles from SFI | Feb. 26 |
| Antonio Damasio | neuroscientist studying emotion, cognition, and creativity | 81 | requested money from Epstein for a project to circumvent forces that might relinquish “control” of research directions | Feb. 26, Mar. 2a |
| Neil Gershenfeld | physicist | 966 | was found to meet with Epstein initially in 2020 MIT report on Epstein interactions | Feb. 26 |
Since it’s so difficult to search for stuff you want in the files, I hope that sharing this information brings some clarity to the role of the many scientists implicated in the Epstein files. This work is the product of over a month of regular research in my spare (and not-so-spare) time.
Since I have started posting about this, women in science have been commenting on the posts talking about their own experiences and how it all makes sense. It’s sad that it takes so much evidence to believe anyone who has ever reported on these people’s bad behavior.
Follow our Instagram for more details on scientists in the Epstein files as more information emerges.
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