Trump picks Stanford expert for NIH leadership, big changes coming for research giant
A Stanford professor with strong views on pandemic policies gets picked to run Americas biggest medical research agency. RFK Jr plans major staff changes and new research direction at the organization
In a game-changing move this tuesday Donald Trump selected Stanford professor Jay Bhattacharya to head the National Institutes of Health - a research powerhouse managing 47.3 billion dollars in funding
The choice comes as Robert F Kennedy Jr‚ Trumps pick for Health and Human Services secretary makes bold plans for the agency: he wants to remove 600 staff members (out of nearly 20k employees) and switch research focus from infectious diseases to long-term health issues like diabetes
Bhattacharya brings strong views to the table - he co-wrote the Great Barrington Declaration about 4 years ago which pushed for normal life during covid times; later he took legal steps against the government saying they made social media block his ideas. His background includes a med school degree and economics PhD from Stanford (both from early 2000s)
The NIH oversees 27 different research centers that work on stuff like new-drug research and vaccine development: but its been in the spotlight lately due to disagreements between Dr Anthony Fauci and some republicans. Back then Francis Collins defended Fauci in an interview saying its not possible to fire him because of civil service rules - something Trump says heʼll change
