Indian-American scientist Jay Bhattacharya confirmed as Director of National Institutes of Health

Bhattacharya, a professor of Health Policy at Stanford University, was confirmed by a 53-47 vote on Tuesday, according to the official website of the US Senate

New York: Indian-American scientist Jay Bhattacharya has been confirmed by the US Senate as the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the country’s top health research and funding institutions.

Bhattacharya, a professor of Health Policy at Stanford University, was confirmed by a 53-47 vote on Tuesday, according to the official website of the US Senate. US President Donald Trump, then the President-elect, nominated Bhattacharya as the 18th NIH Director in November last year.

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“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 had said.

During his hearing, Bhattacharya said he understands science and public health have become politicised, and many no longer trust health officials or experts, according to The Hill.

The NIH should support science which is “replicable, reproducible, and generalisable,” Bhattacharya said. “Unfortunately, much of modern biomedical science fails this basic test,” the news portal quoted him as saying.

“If confirmed, I will carry out President Trump and (Health and Human Service) 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,” he said.

In a statement on Tuesday, Stanford Medicine “proudly” congratulated Bhattacharya on his appointment and called his commitment to public service “commendable”.
“As an institution, we are staunch supporters of the NIH’s mission, which continues to advance the frontiers of medical knowledge and unlock new possibilities for health improvement,” it said.

US Senator from Kentucky Mitch McConnell took to X and said, “Voted today to confirm Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. With an extensive background in medical research, I expect @DrJBhattacharya to provide sound leadership at the @NIH.” Bhattacharya 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.