Jay Bhattacharya set to lead NIH as Trump reshapes US public health policy

Jay Bhattacharya

Jay Bhattacharya is poised for a comeback. The Stanford health economist, once condemned for his critique of Covid lockdowns, will soon testify before the US Senate, defending his stance and seeking confirmation as the head of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). His nomination by US President Donald Trump marks a dramatic turn from the days when NIH Director Francis Collins labelled him a "fringe epidemiologist" and sought to discredit him, according to Politico.

Bhattacharya gained prominence in 2020 when he co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration, a letter opposing lockdowns and advocating for herd immunity among low-risk populations while protecting the vulnerable. The declaration, signed by thousands of public health experts, warned that lockdowns would cause long-term harm, including declining childhood vaccination rates, deteriorating mental health, and missed cancer screenings. Critics, including federal scientists, condemned the letter as dangerous and unethical.

Despite the backlash, Bhattacharya remained vocal, using social media to challenge public health policies, Politico reported. He met with Elon Musk in 2022 after Musk acquired X (formerly Twitter) and revealed internal documents showing that Bhattacharya’s posts had been suppressed during the pandemic. In 2024, he took his case to the Supreme Court, alleging the Biden administration pressured X to censor him. The court ruled that he had not demonstrated harm.

His expected confirmation follows a broader shift in government policy. Trump has already cut $4 billion in university grants and eliminated funding for diversity programs, while Musk has spearheaded efforts to reduce the federal workforce. At NIH, Bhattacharya will oversee a $48 billion budget, critical to American universities and research institutions. He joins a team of Covid contrarians led by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who seeks to challenge conventional scientific narratives.

In his prepared remarks, Bhattacharya accuses past NIH leadership of suppressing dissent and fostering a culture of coverup. He supports Kennedy’s call to focus on chronic disease research and alternative treatments. “Dissent is the very essence of science,” he is expected to say. His nomination has drawn praise from Republican lawmakers, including Senate HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, who described Bhattacharya’s vision as restoring faith in medical research. Cassidy’s plan for NIH includes increasing external oversight and streamlining peer review processes. House Republicans have also proposed consolidating the agency’s research divisions and imposing term limits on top officials.

Senator Rand Paul, another member of the HELP Committee, is likely to raise his concerns over gain-of-function research, which involves modifying pathogens to study their behaviour. Paul has long argued that Covid originated from a lab leak in China and has pushed for stricter regulations on such research. Bhattacharya, in his remarks, has signalled support for stringent oversight.

Democrats, with a 47-53 minority in the Senate, lack the votes to block Bhattacharya’s confirmation. Some hope his academic background will temper his alignment with Musk’s aggressive cost-cutting strategy. Senator Tammy Baldwin has stressed the need for an NIH leader committed to the agency’s core mission, but with Republican support firmly in place, Bhattacharya is set to lead a transformed NIH.