President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Stanford University’s Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., to serve as the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Bhattacharya is a physician, professor and economic researcher known for co-authoring an open letter in October 2020 that called for an end to pandemic lockdowns, underscoring the power of herd immunity. In response, the World Health Organization and Anthony Fauci, M.D., among others, condemned the letter, arguing that the approach would be dangerous and wasn't based on strong scientific evidence.
Bhattacharya is currently the director of Stanford's Center on the Demography and Economics of Health and Aging—which incorporates work across population studies, health economics, economics of retirement and medtech—a role he has held since 2011.
Bhattacharya has previously called for an overhaul of the NIH that would include limiting the power of leaders shaping public health policy tied to the pandemic, according to The New York Times.
If confirmed by the Senate, Bhattacharya will take the reins from current NIH director Monica Bertagnolli, M.D., who took up the post in 2023.
The NIH has a yearly budget of nearly $48 billion, making the agency the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research.
“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,” Trump wrote in a Nov. 26 Truth Social post announcing his pick. “Together, they will work hard to Make America Healthy Again!”
Trump previously selected Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. to head up the Department of Health and Human Services—the NIH’s parent organization. The politician and vaccine skeptic was chosen to protect the public from items that have “contributed to the overwhelming health crisis in this country," including "pharmaceutical products,” according to Trump.
This story was updated at 11:45 a.m. ET to reflect the correct NIH budget.