US President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Indian-American scientist Jay Bhattacharya as the director of the National Institutes of Health, the country’s leading health research and funding institution. Bhattacharya is the first Indian-American nominated by Trump for a senior administrative position.
Earlier, Trump selected Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, along with Tesla owner Elon Musk. However, this is a voluntary position that does not require US Senate confirmation.
“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 said.
“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,” he added.
According to PTI reports, Bhattacharya is a professor of Health Policy at Stanford University, a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, the Stanford Freeman Spogli Institute, and the Hoover Institution.
He also directs Stanford’s Centre for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging. His research focuses on the health and well-being of vulnerable populations with an emphasis on government programs, biomedical innovation and economics. He is a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, an alternative to lockdowns proposed in October 2020.
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