US President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, November 27, picked Indian-American professor Jay Bhattacharya as the director of the National Institutes of Health. NIH is one of America’s top health research and funding institutions.
Bhattacharya has become the first Indian-American to be nominated by Trump for a top administrative position. While he picked Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), alongside Elon Musk, that position is voluntary and does not require Senate confirmation.
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“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’s official statement read.
“Jay is a Professor of Health Policy at Stanford University, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economics Research, and a Senior Fellow by courtesy at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute, and the Hoover Institution.
“He directs Stanford’s Center for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging. His Research focuses on the Health and Well-Being of vulnerable populations, emphasizing the role of Government programs, Biomedical Innovation, and Economics. Jay is a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, an alternative to lockdowns proposed in October 2020. His peer-reviewed research has been published in Economics, Statistics, Legal, Medical, Public Health, and Health Policy Journals. He holds an MD and PhD in Economics from Stanford University.
“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!
As per reports, Bhattacharya held a meeting with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — Trump’s pick for US Secretary of Health and Human Services — last week and impressed him with his ideas to transform the NIH.
Speaking about his appointment, Bhattacharya took to X to state he is honoured and humbled by Trump’s nomination of him to be the next NIH director. “We will reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again and will deploy the fruits of excellent science to make America healthy again!” part of his tweet read.
I am honored and humbled by President @realDonaldTrump's nomination of me to be the next @NIH director. We will reform American scientific institutions so that they are worthy of trust again and will deploy the fruits of excellent science to make America healthy again! https://t.co/FrLmYznhfw
— Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) November 27, 2024
Kennedy Jr. hailed the appointment as “spectacular”. “I’m so grateful to President Trump for this spectacular appointment. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is the ideal leader to restore NIH as the international template for gold-standard science and evidence-based medicine,” he tweeted.
Trump also nominated Jim O’Neill as the deputy secretary of Health and Human Services to work alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“He (O’Neill) will oversee all operations and improve Management, Transparency, and Accountability to, Make America Healthy Again,” he said.
Trump’s new pick previously served as the principal associate deputy secretary of HHS. He led reforms at the FDA to overhaul Food Safety Regulations and implemented the FDA Amendments Act, which improved Drug and Medical Device Safety, and ensured greater protection for Public Health, according to Trump.
