US President-elect Donald Trump has selected Indian-American scientist Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to head the National Institutes of Health, America’s premier medical research institution.
In a Tuesday evening announcement, Trump stated that Bhattacharya, a 56-year-old Stanford University School of Medicine professor, will collaborate with Robert F Kennedy Jr, the nominated Health and Human Services Secretary, “to direct the Nation’s Medical Research, and to make important discoveries that will improve Health, and save lives.”
Trump stated that “Together, Jay and RFK Jr will restore the NIH to a Gold Standard of Medical Research as they examine the underlying causes of, and solutions to, America’s biggest Health challenges, including our Crisis of Chronic Illness and Disease.”
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With this, Bhattacharya becomes the first Indian-American to be nominated by Trump for a top administrative position.
After Trump picked him, Bhattacharya said, “I am honored and humbled by President @realDonaldTrump
‘s nomination of me to be the next @NIHdirector. We will reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again and will deploy the fruits of excellent science to make America healthy again!”
I am honored and humbled by President @realDonaldTrump's nomination of me to be the next @NIH director. We will reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again and will deploy the fruits of excellent science to make America healthy again! https://t.co/FrLmYznhfw
— Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) November 27, 2024
Reacting to the appointment, Robert F Kennedy Jr, the nominated Health and Human Services Secretary said, “I’m so grateful to President Trump for this spectacular appointment. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is the ideal leader to restore NIH as the international template for gold-standard science and evidence-based medicine.”
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This appointment highlights the continuing influence of COVID-19 on public health policy decisions.
As a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration in October 2020, Bhattacharya advocated against lockdowns, suggesting they caused irreversible damage, AP reported.
The declaration, published before COVID-19 vaccines were available during Trump’s first term, supported natural immunity development through infection for low-risk individuals whilst protecting vulnerable populations.
“I think the lockdowns were the single biggest public health mistake,” Bhattacharya stated in March 2021 at a panel discussion hosted by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Whilst some in Trump’s first administration supported the Great Barrington Declaration, disease experts widely criticised it. Then-NIH director Dr. Francis Collins described it as dangerous and “not mainstream science.”
Senate approval is required for his appointment, as per AP news agency.
Trump also announced Jim O’Neill, a former HHS official, as deputy secretary. Trump indicated O’Neill “will oversee all operations and improve Management, Transparency, and Accountability to, Make America Healthy Again.”
