President-elect Donald J. Trump announced on Tuesday evening that he had chosen Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford physician and economist known for his anti-lockdown stance during the coronavirus pandemic, to be the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “Together, Jay and RFK Jr. will restore the NIH to a Gold Standard of Medical Research as they investigate the underlying causes of and solutions to America’s major health challenges, including our Crisis of Chronic Illness and Disease,” Mr. Trump stated on social media, referencing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom he selected to head the NIH’s parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services. If confirmed by the Senate, Dr. Bhattacharya would oversee the leading medical research agency in the world, which has a $48 billion budget and consists of 27 institutes and centers, each focusing on various diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Dr. Bhattacharya, who is not currently a practicing doctor, has advocated for a complete reform of the N.I.H. and for reducing the influence of civil servants, whom he feels had too much involvement in federal policy during the pandemic. He is the most recent appointment in a lineup of health officials under Trump that gained attention during the coronavirus pandemic and who often express views on medicine and public health that diverge from mainstream perspectives. Experts agree that the health decisions of the president-elect indicate that significant changes are on the horizon for the country’s public health and biomedical sectors. Dr. Bhattacharya is one of the three main authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, a document released in 2020 advocating for allowing the virus to spread among young, healthy individuals who faced “minimal risk of death” to build natural immunity, while focusing prevention measures on older and vulnerable populations. Through a connection with a Stanford colleague, Dr. Scott Atlas, who was advising Mr. Trump during his first term, Dr. Bhattacharya shared his perspectives with Alex M. Azar II, Mr. Trump’s health secretary. The public health establishment quickly expressed its disapproval. Dr. Bhattacharya and his co-authors were quickly labeled as extremists, with their “fringe” policy proposals predicted to result in millions of avoidable deaths. We are experiencing difficulties accessing the article content. Please allow JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience as we confirm access. If you are currently in Reader mode, please leave that mode and log into your Times account, or subscribe to The Times for full access. We appreciate your patience as we verify your access. Are you already a subscriber? Sign in.. Do you want access to all of The Times? Subscribe.
