The Indian Panorama

Tag: Jay Bhattacharya

  • Senate Confirms Jay Bhattacharya as NIH Chief

    Senate Confirms Jay Bhattacharya as NIH Chief

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who was an outspoken critic of measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, gained Senate confirmation to head the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in a vote of 53–47 on March 25.

    Bhattacharya is aligned on multiple issues with his new boss, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including addressing the nation’s chronic disease epidemic.

    A physician and former Stanford University professor, Bhattacharya first drew public attention in 2020 for his criticism of COVID-19-era interventions such as mask mandates, lockdowns, and school closures.

    In their Great Barrington Declaration, Bhattacharya and others argued for “focused protection” of vulnerable people while allowing low-risk groups to resume normal activities.

    He later sued the government, alleging that it pressured social media companies to censor his views.

    One of the 13 agencies managed by HHS, the NIH is the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world. It funds around $50 billion in scientific research via grants to hundreds of thousands of researchers at academic institutions and hospitals.

    Trump nominated Bhattacharya in November 2024 to lead NIH.

    The NIH, located in Bethesda, Maryland, includes 27 institutes focused on various aspects of health, including the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which Dr. Anthony Fauci headed up.

    Bhattacharya said a key to restoring trust is to make NIH research more rigorous.

    “NIH-supported science should be replicable, reproducible, and generalizable,” he said, recalling a recent research integrity scandal within the agency that called into question the validity of some studies on Alzheimer’s disease. “NIH can and must solve the crisis of scientific data reliability.”

  • Trump picks Indian American doc to head top health institute

    Trump picks Indian American doc to head top health institute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP) : US President-elect Donald Trump has picked Indian American scientist Jay Bhattacharya as the director of the National Institutes of Health, the country’s top health research and funding institutions.
    With this, Bhattacharya becomes the first Indian American to be nominated by Trump for a top administrative position.
    Earlier, Trump picked Indian American Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency along with Tesla owner Elon Musk. However, that is a voluntary position and does not need confirmation from the US Senate.
    “I am thrilled to nominate Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, to serve as Director of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Bhattacharya will work in cooperation with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to direct the Nation’s Medical Research and to make important discoveries that will improve Health, and save lives,” Trump said.
    “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. Together, they will work hard to Make America Healthy Again,” he said.
    Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford health policy professor, was an outspoken critic of the US government’s Covid-19 policies during the pandemic. Along with two other academics, he published the Great Barrington Declaration in October 2020, which called for a return to life as normal for those who were not vulnerable to the virus. He sued the government afterwards, alleging that it pressured social media platforms to censor his opinions.