A Columbia University College of Dental Medicine senior administrator helped convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's girlfriend gain admission to the school twice -- 11 years apart -- according to an article published on May 1 in the Columbia Spectator.
Dr. James Fine, senior associate dean for postdoctoral academic and student affairs, appeared to play a key role in the 2012 transfer admission of Karyna Shuliak into the dental school and her acceptance in 2023 into a postdoctoral program.
A pattern of unusual support
Shuliak, according to the Spectator, was a 20-year-old dental student in Belarus. In 2009, she met Epstein, withdrew from school, and moved to New York City.
It was then that she expressed interest in applying to Columbia’s dental school. Epstein’s dentist, Dr. Thomas Magnani, was a volunteer professor at the dental school and president of its donor association. Magnani arranged a meeting with an Epstein assistant and a senior faculty member to give Shuliak a tour of the school.
Within a few months, Shuliak applied to the program. However, in 2012, she was rejected because she had not yet completed her bachelor’s degree. A bachelor's degree is a requirement for admission to the dental school.
According to the Spectator, Magnani worked with senior school administrators to help secure Shuliak’s admission and introduced Epstein to school officials, including a former dean -- Ira Lamster -- as a potential significant donor. Epstein proffered a potential $50 million naming donation for a new dental school building. The university, however, scuttled the plan after looking into Epstein’s background. But smaller donations were made, including one to Lamster’s personal research fund and one that was made in Shuliak’s name.
While Magnani didn’t serve in any administrative roles at the school, he had close personal and professional ties with Fine. Text messages obtained from U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) records between Magnani and Epstein indicate that Fine was aware of what Shuliak would be tested on as part of an effort to reverse her rejection from the school. In the texts, Magnani tells Epstein: “Jeff I just spoke to Jim Fine he will know tomorrow what they will test her on all transfer students have to have a test although there hasn't been a transfer student in years it has to be done to keep this on the up and up When I find out what's on it we will get together and practice.”
Epstein had also requested delaying Shuliak’s exam. In a separate email, a person whose identity was redacted by the DOJ informed Epstein that Magnani “ … says not to rock the boat ... she [Shuliak] is with the most powerful people there who are already meeting half way and moving things around to accommodate her ... he doesn't want the initial fears everyone had to be roused again.”
Shuliak was accepted into the program three months after her initial rejection and graduated in 2015.
Following her graduation from Columbia’s dental school, Shuliak entered private practice in the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to a personal statement Shuliak submitted for the graduate program, which the Spectator said it obtained. Epstein’s private island, Little St. James, is in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which, according to federal prosecutors, was central to Epstein’s trafficking operation. Some images that have been released by the DOJ of Epstein’s compound on Little St. James show a room with a dental chair.
In 2018, a Miami Herald article revealed the scale of Epstein’s abuse and a deal that federal prosecutors, including Alexander Acosta, who served as U.S. Labor Secretary from 2017 to 2019, cut in which Epstein agreed to plead guilty to two felony prostitution charges in state court. In exchange, Epstein and his accomplices would receive immunity from federal sex trafficking charges. Seven months after the Herald’s series, New York prosecutors arrested Epstein on sex trafficking charges. Epstein died a month later awaiting trial in Manhattan.
Shuliak, as reported by the New York Times, was the last person Epstein spoke with before his death. Epstein paid for Shuliak’s tuition and left her $100 million in his will.
A web of personal and professional relationships
Following Epstein’s death, Shuliak gained an internship at Magnani’s Columbia-affiliated private dental practice. Fine also worked at the practice as a periodontist since 2013, according to the Spectator article. Both Fine and Magnani provided dental care to Epstein and his associates, according to DOJ records.
In 2023, Shuliak applied to Columbia’s Advanced Education in General Dentistry program. The program required three evaluation letters from dental faculty as letters of recommendation, which Shuliak provided from Fine, Magnani, and a former senior associate dean of admissions for the school. In his letter, Fine gave Shuliak his "highest recommendation" but did not disclose Shuliak’s internship at the practice where she, Fine, and Magnani worked, the article states. Shuliak graduated from the program in 2025.
In February 2026, Columbia University announced disciplinary actions against Magnani and another administrator. Magnani, the university said, was removed from the admissions review committee and volunteer positions, and the affiliation agreement with his private practice was canceled. Fine, though, was not mentioned in the university’s statement, nor did it address Shuliak’s 2023 postdoctoral admission.
Fine's name was removed from Magnani's practice website a day after Columbia's public statement, and according to the Spectator, Fine remains at the dental school in a senior administrative role.
"The University's investigation into this issue is ongoing," a university spokesperson said, according to the Spectator article.
