The Senate on Tuesday confirmed health researcher Jay Bhattacharya as the next leader of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Bhattacharya was confirmed on a party line vote, 53 to 47.
Bhattacharya became a celebrity among many Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic for criticizing masking orders, school closures and other measures meant to mitigate the spread of the virus.
Bhattacharya was one of the primary authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, a document signed by thousands of public health experts in late 2020 that pushed the argument of “herd immunity;” allowing the virus to spread among lower-risk, younger people to build up immunity while having “focused protection” on older, high-risk people.
Federal officials like former NIH Director Francis Collins, top COVID adviser Anthony Fauci and many others criticized the letter as dangerous and unethical.
The Stanford economist and physician said he became a pariah among the scientific establishment for his views and has indicated he will run the NIH in a way that embraces scientific dissent — even in cases where numerous studies have shown the science is settled, like a debunked link between the measles shot and autism.
“Dissent is the very essence of science. I will foster a culture where NIH leadership will actively encourage different perspectives and create an environment where scientists – including early career scientists – can express disagreement respectfully,” Bhattacharya said during his confirmation hearing earlier this month.
He will take the reins of the largest funder of biomedical research in the world. The NIH funds almost $48 billion in scientific research through roughly 50,000 grants to more than 300,000 researchers across 2,500 universities, hospitals and other institutions.
But the agency is reeling from actions by the Trump administration, including recent mass firing of agency staff, grant restrictions and other funding freezes and cuts. The White House is effectively waging a war on private universities, slashing their grants by $4 billion and defunded work on racial inequities and transgender care.
Bhattacharya during his hearing said he understands science and public health have become politicized, and many in the public no longer trust health officials or experts.
The NIH should support science that is “replicable, reproducible, and generalizable,” Bhattacharya said. “Unfortunately, much of modern biomedical science fails this basic test.”
He also committed to following Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s goal to dial back infectious diseases work and focus on chronic illness instead.
“If confirmed, I will carry out President Trump and Secretary Kennedy’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again and committing the NIH to address the dire chronic health needs of the country with gold-standard science and innovation,” Bhattacharya said.
