President-elect Donald Trump nominated Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health — an agency under the Department of Health and Human Services.
With a $48 billion budget, NIH oversees how grants are distributed for medical research on vaccines, cancer, and other diseases, but the agency also conducts its own research as well.
Bhattacharya currently serves as director of Stanford University’s Center on the Demography and Economics of Health and Aging. His most recent research focused on the epidemiology of COVID-19 and policy responses to the epidemic.
The 56-year-old physician has earned an M.D. and Ph.D. in economics from Stanford.
Bhattacharya was a strong critic of COVID-19 lockdown measures, and he was one of three authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, which claims lockdowns lead to a deterioration of both physical and mental health.
“The results (to name a few) include lower childhood vaccination rates, worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes, fewer cancer screenings and deteriorating mental health — leading to greater excess mortality in years to come, with the working class and younger members of society carrying the heaviest burden,” the authors wrote in the October 2020 letter. “Keeping students out of school is a grave injustice. Keeping these measures in place until a vaccine is available will cause irreparable damage, with the underprivileged disproportionately harmed.”
The Great Barrington Declaration promoted “herd immunity,” which entailed high-risk individuals being socially removed while low-risk individuals would live life normally and build immunity naturally.
The “herd immunity” concept was criticized by Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Allowing a dangerous virus that we don’t fully understand to run free is simply unethical,” Ghebreyesus said at the time of the publication. “Never in the history of public health has herd immunity been used as a strategy for responding to an outbreak."
Former NIH Director Francis Collins called the concept of "herd immunity" dangerous.
However, Bhattacharya stood by the “herd immunity” theory and called lockdowns “the single biggest public health mistake” during a panel discussion in March 2021 with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
The former HHS deputy assistant secretary under the Trump administration called him an "unconventional choice," but he said reform is needed within the NIH.
In June 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Republicans introduced legislation calling to fire Dr. Anthony Fauci, former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He was responsible for crafting the nation's response to COVID-19 and influencing policies implemented by state and local authorities.
Trump's appointment of Bhattacharya, who has no experience working in the federal bureaucracy, reflects the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the public health discussion, particularly regarding vaccine mandates.
Bhattacharya was a strong opponent of cities, employees, and federal agencies making vaccine mandates, and Trump's pick for HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is skeptical about the overall safety of vaccines in general.
“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 on Truth Social.
Bhattacharya stands behind his accusations that the federal government exaggerated COVID-19.
"It is not a virtue to exaggerate an infectious disease threat at the start of a pandemic to panic the population into compliance," Bhattacharya posted Tuesday on X. "It's not a vice to ask for data to understand the true risk."
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Upon buying X in 2022, Elon Musk invited Bhattacharya to speak at headquarters to share how his posts were previously censored by the social media company.
He also was named a plaintiff in the Supreme Court case Murthy v. Missouri, which accused federal officials of suppressing conservative views on social media in their effort to combat misinformation, but the court ruled in favor of the Biden administration.