President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Stanford University health economist and physician Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a move that is likely to spark significant controversy, Bloomberg reports.
Jay Bhattacharya, best known for his authorship of the Great Barrington Declaration, a 2020 document advocating for an alternative COVID-19 strategy focused on protecting vulnerable populations while allowing the rest of society to resume normal activities, will oversee an agency with a nearly $50 billion research budget.
The Great Barrington Declaration, which proposed minimizing lockdowns and focusing on shielding the elderly and high-risk individuals, was met with fierce opposition from the public health establishment, including Dr. Anthony Fauci. Critics labeled the declaration’s approach “very dangerous.” However, in the years since, concerns have grown regarding the long-term negative consequences of pandemic-related restrictions, including impacts on mental health and educational setbacks for children.
Trump, in a post on Truth Social, praised Bhattacharya and his health secretary pick, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“They 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,” he wrote
Bhattacharya, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), expressed his honor and humility at the nomination, stating his intention to “reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again.” Proposed reforms for the NIH include implementing term limits for institute directors to prevent the concentration of excessive power in the hands of a single individual controlling vast medical research funding.
