U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Indian-American health economist and Stanford professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to head the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the country’s premier medical research agency. If confirmed, Bhattacharya will work alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, to tackle public health challenges and revitalize NIH’s research agenda.
Trump announced Bhattacharya’s appointment, highlighting his commitment to addressing chronic illness and advancing medical discoveries. “Together, Jay and RFK Jr. will restore the NIH to a Gold Standard of Medical Research and Make America Healthy Again,” Trump stated.
A critic of COVID-19 lockdowns and vaccine mandates, Bhattacharya co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration, which advocated for targeted protection of vulnerable populations while allowing low-risk individuals to continue normal activities. The declaration, introduced in 2020, sparked significant debate and was dismissed by many experts, including former NIH director Dr. Francis Collins, as dangerous and unscientific.
Bhattacharya, a professor of health policy at Stanford University and director of its Center for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging, has published extensively on health policy and biomedical innovation. He holds an MD and PhD in economics from Stanford.
The nomination underscores Trump’s critique of the public health establishment’s handling of COVID-19. Bhattacharya has been outspoken in alleging censorship of his views on social media.
Trump also announced Jim O’Neill as the deputy secretary of HHS, tasking him with improving management and accountability. O’Neill, a former HHS official, played a key role in past FDA reforms.
The NIH, with a $48 billion budget, supports critical medical research and oversees groundbreaking projects, including the development of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Bhattacharya’s nomination requires Senate confirmation.
