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Four months ago, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya left the academia version of heaven on earth — a tenured professorship at Stanford University — to run the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
The cross-country move gave Bhattacharya one of the most powerful jobs in American medicine. As NIH director, he oversees a $47 billion annual research budget that covers everything from basic science to chronic and infectious diseases. He reports to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who reports to President Trump.
That’s power. It’s also the hottest of seats.
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Bhattacharya must navigate through a scientific and public health establishment that leans hard left, a White House that wants to spend less and get more out of scientific research, and a “Make America Healthy Again” movement that is skeptical of much of modern medicine.
But Bhattacharya understands the landscape as well as anyone.
After a career in public health epidemiology, he came under harsh and unfair criticism early in Covid for his concerns about lockdowns — concerns basically accepted as correct today. I’ve known him since 2020, and I have always admired his ability to keep cool even in the face of deeply unfair criticism. (You may have noticed I tend to go the other way.)
Last week, I had the chance to visit him at NIH for an hour-long interview and hear his vision for the next four years. As you’ll hear, he wants to do more than just nibble around the NIH’s grant-making process. He hopes he can begin a process of making scientists more open to criticism of their work — and more humble about their relationship with society.
I could say more, but I’d rather let Jay speak for himself. (And make sure you listen to the end, where we discuss the origins of Covid and whether China will ever come clean about what it knows…)
Hope you enjoy.
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(Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, in front of the NIH headquarters building. He’s the boss.)
