WASHINGTON (Diya TV). — A prominent critic of COVID-19 lockdowns and government health measures, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, is a leading candidate to join President-elect Donald Trump’s NIH under new management as the director, The Washington Post reported. This move marks a sharp turn in U.S. public health policy, with more reform and debate among scientists than previously expected.
The report said four people with knowledge about the matter who remained anonymous noted that Bhattacharya has been included on a list drafted by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom President-elect Trump has tapped to head the Department of Health and Human Services. If chosen, Bhattacharya would oversee NIH, the nation’s leading public health research agency and its biggest funder of medical research in the United States – making him one of the most influential figures in forming health policy and scientific research in the country.
Bhattacharya teaches medicine, economics, and health policy at Stanford University; he became a national voice in 2020 as one of the coauthors of the Great Barrington Declaration. The open letter- signed by thousands of health professionals- called for an end to mass lockdowns and focused efforts on protecting the most vulnerable while letting the rest of society get back to living. The statement was met with harsh criticism from leading health officials at the time, including former NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins, who privately described the authors as “fringe” and was urging a quick rebuke of their message, according to emails obtained by The Washington Post.
Bhattacharya’s potential appointment to NIH would mark a significant shift in how the agency may operate, particularly in relation to pandemic preparedness and future public health crises. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Bhattacharya was outspoken in his belief that the societal harms caused by lockdowns- from economic hardship and mental health issues to educational setbacks- were worse than the virus itself. His views have since gained wider acceptance, particularly among conservatives, though they remain controversial.
Beyond his criticism of pandemic policies, Bhattacharya has been a long-standing critic of NIH’s internal structure and funding priorities. In a 2018 working paper, he argued that NIH had become overly risk-averse and that its funding choices had stifled innovative research. He has also called for decentralizing the agency to prevent a few powerful figures from controlling public health decisions for extended periods.
“I would reorganize the NIH to be more decentralized, with more centers of power,” Bhattacharya said in a January 2024 interview with The Washington Post. He mentioned that one key step in his reforming agenda would be reducing the power of old-line bureaucrats like Dr. Anthony Fauci, who runs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Should Bhattacharya be confirmed, his administration might lead to a more profound reconsideration by NIH of its place in scientific inquiry and in public health policy. He has repeatedly emphasized the need for trust restoration in health institutions that he believes have suffered significantly in the last few years.
Going into the second term of the Trump administration, Bhattacharya’s name stays as one of the many frontrunners for the NIH role, pointing to an incoming government’s desire to re-shape U.S. public health and bring new perspectives to long-standing agencies.
