Trump appoints NIH critic Jay Bhattacharya as head of the agency
A physician and economist from Stanford University, recognized for his opposition to Covid-19 lockdowns, has been selected to head the $47 billion biomedical research agency.
TroibNews 
President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Jay Bhattacharya, a physician and economist from Stanford University known for his controversial opinions during the Covid-19 pandemic, to lead the National Institutes of Health.
Bhattacharya, 56, has called for significant changes within the agency and criticized former NIH leaders Francis Collins and Anthony Fauci for stifling scientific debate and research during the pandemic. He stated in a recent piece for the British site UnHerd that “The rot, having accumulated over decades, was plain for all to see,” while endorsing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom Trump has selected as his health and human services secretary.
He has argued that health officials failed the public by supporting lockdowns, school closures, and mandates. “Yet the officials continue to deny their own culpability, avoiding a long look in the mirror,” Bhattacharya wrote.
Trump expressed confidence in Bhattacharya and Kennedy, stating, “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,” in a statement regarding Bhattacharya's nomination.
In a post on X, Bhattacharya expressed gratitude, saying he was “honored and humbled by President @realDonaldTrump's nomination of me to be the next @NIH director.” He committed to “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!” which aligns with themes emphasized by Kennedy. Kennedy described Bhattacharya's appointment as "spectacular" in his own post to X.
Others who support Bhattacharya’s criticism of lockdown policies also welcomed Trump's decision. Senator Rand Paul, known for his confrontations with NIH officials including Fauci during the pandemic, congratulated Bhattacharya on X, expressing confidence that he would bring about the bipartisan reform that the NIH requires.
Chris Meekins, who served as a deputy assistant secretary at HHS during Trump's first term, noted that while Bhattacharya is an “unconventional choice” due to his background, the NIH is “badly in need of reforms, and it may take someone from the outside to get the agency back on track.”
Bhattacharya was a primary author of the Great Barrington Declaration, an open letter released in October 2020 that advocated against lockdowns and suggested a more relaxed approach to managing the pandemic, allowing low-risk individuals to develop herd immunity. This idea was labeled as dangerous by then-NIH Director Francis Collins.
Bhattacharya’s appointment continues a trend of Trump selecting unconventional health figures for key health administration positions, following his choices of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for HHS secretary and celebrity physician Mehmet Oz as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Ashish Jha, the Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and former Covid-19 response coordinator for President Joe Biden, differentiated between Bhattacharya and Kennedy in a post on X, dismissing Kennedy as a “terrible choice” while calling Bhattacharya "smart and experienced."
If confirmed by the Senate as NIH director, Bhattacharya will oversee the agency, which has a budget of nearly $50 billion and consists of 27 institutes and centers, making it the largest funder of biomedical research globally.
Thomas Evans for TROIB News
Bhattacharya, 56, has called for significant changes within the agency and criticized former NIH leaders Francis Collins and Anthony Fauci for stifling scientific debate and research during the pandemic. He stated in a recent piece for the British site UnHerd that “The rot, having accumulated over decades, was plain for all to see,” while endorsing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom Trump has selected as his health and human services secretary.
He has argued that health officials failed the public by supporting lockdowns, school closures, and mandates. “Yet the officials continue to deny their own culpability, avoiding a long look in the mirror,” Bhattacharya wrote.
Trump expressed confidence in Bhattacharya and Kennedy, stating, “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,” in a statement regarding Bhattacharya's nomination.
In a post on X, Bhattacharya expressed gratitude, saying he was “honored and humbled by President @realDonaldTrump's nomination of me to be the next @NIH director.” He committed to “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!” which aligns with themes emphasized by Kennedy. Kennedy described Bhattacharya's appointment as "spectacular" in his own post to X.
Others who support Bhattacharya’s criticism of lockdown policies also welcomed Trump's decision. Senator Rand Paul, known for his confrontations with NIH officials including Fauci during the pandemic, congratulated Bhattacharya on X, expressing confidence that he would bring about the bipartisan reform that the NIH requires.
Chris Meekins, who served as a deputy assistant secretary at HHS during Trump's first term, noted that while Bhattacharya is an “unconventional choice” due to his background, the NIH is “badly in need of reforms, and it may take someone from the outside to get the agency back on track.”
Bhattacharya was a primary author of the Great Barrington Declaration, an open letter released in October 2020 that advocated against lockdowns and suggested a more relaxed approach to managing the pandemic, allowing low-risk individuals to develop herd immunity. This idea was labeled as dangerous by then-NIH Director Francis Collins.
Bhattacharya’s appointment continues a trend of Trump selecting unconventional health figures for key health administration positions, following his choices of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for HHS secretary and celebrity physician Mehmet Oz as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Ashish Jha, the Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and former Covid-19 response coordinator for President Joe Biden, differentiated between Bhattacharya and Kennedy in a post on X, dismissing Kennedy as a “terrible choice” while calling Bhattacharya "smart and experienced."
If confirmed by the Senate as NIH director, Bhattacharya will oversee the agency, which has a budget of nearly $50 billion and consists of 27 institutes and centers, making it the largest funder of biomedical research globally.
Thomas Evans for TROIB News
