The Senate on Tuesday confirmed well being researcher Jay Bhattacharya as the following chief of the Nationwide Institutes of Well being (NIH).
Bhattacharya was confirmed on a party- line vote, 53 to 47.
Bhattacharya grew to become a star amongst many Individuals in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic for criticizing masking orders, faculty closures and different measures meant to mitigate the unfold of the virus.
Bhattacharya was one of many major authors of the Nice Barrington Declaration, a doc signed by hundreds of public well being consultants in late 2020 that pushed the argument of “herd immunity;” permitting the virus to unfold amongst lower-risk, youthful folks to construct up immunity whereas having “focused protection” on older, high-risk folks.
Federal officers like former NIH Director Francis Collins, prime COVID adviser Anthony Fauci and lots of others criticized the letter as harmful and unethical.
The Stanford economist and doctor mentioned he grew to become a pariah among the many scientific institution for his views and has indicated he’ll run the NIH in a approach that embraces scientific dissent — even in circumstances the place quite a few research have proven the science is settled, like a debunked hyperlink between the measles shot and autism.
“Dissent is the very essence of science. I will foster a culture where NIH leadership will actively encourage different perspectives and create an environment where scientists — including early career scientists — can express disagreement respectfully,” Bhattacharya mentioned throughout his affirmation listening to earlier this month.
He’ll take the reins of the most important funder of biomedical analysis on the planet. The NIH funds virtually $48 billion in scientific analysis by roughly 50,000 grants to greater than 300,000 researchers throughout 2,500 universities, hospitals and different establishments.
However the company is reeling from actions by the Trump administration, together with current mass firings of company workers, grant restrictions and different funding freezes and cuts. The White Home is successfully waging a battle on personal universities, slashing their grants by $4 billion and defunding work on racial inequities and transgender care.
Bhattacharya throughout his listening to mentioned he understands science and public well being have turn out to be politicized, and lots of within the public not belief well being officers or consultants.
The NIH ought to assist science that’s “replicable, reproducible, and generalizable,” Bhattacharya mentioned. “Unfortunately, much of modern biomedical science fails this basic test.”
He additionally dedicated to following Well being and Human Providers Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s purpose to dial again work on infectious ailments and concentrate on power sickness as an alternative.
“If confirmed, I will carry out President Trump and 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,” Bhattacharya mentioned.
