Atlas, who was a radiologist by training, pushed fringe theories about the coronavirus, including the idea that large numbers of people should get infected in order to reach so-called "herd immunity."

Atlas is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, a conservative-leaning think tank based at the university. He's currently on leave while he works as an adviser to President Trump.

The controversial coronavirus adviser apologized on Sunday for doing an interview with Russia's state-controlled network RT, saying he "was unaware they are a registered foreign agent."