ARTICLE | Politics, Policy & Law
Trump’s NIH director pick is well-known for COVID contrarianism, but he has also advocated for greater investment in innovative science
By Steve Usdin, Washington Editor
December 4, 2024 1:25 AM UTC
Initial reaction to President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to run NIH, Jay Bhattacharya, has focused on re-litigating the Stanford professor’s controversial COVID policy recommendations, and on his combative personality. There is, however, another side to Bhattacharya, one that suggests that he could try to push the world’s largest biomedical research funder to back more innovative ideas, resist the urge to fund me-too science, and invest more in translational research.
Bhattacharya became famous, or infamous, in October 2020 as a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, a manifesto that advocated largely relying on natural immunity to combat SARS-CoV-2. Reflecting the views of public health leaders, then-NIH Director Francis Collins dismissed the declaration as “fringe science.” Bhattacharya, who had spent his academic career in relative obscurity, jumped into the conservative media spotlight, attacking then-head of NIH’s NIAID Anthony Fauci and cheering on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his retinue of anti-vaxxers and wellness entrepreneurs. …
- SEO Powered Content & PR Distribution. Get Amplified Today.
- PlatoData.Network Vertical Generative Ai. Empower Yourself. Access Here.
- PlatoAiStream. Web3 Intelligence. Knowledge Amplified. Access Here.
- PlatoESG. Carbon, CleanTech, Energy, Environment, Solar, Waste Management. Access Here.
- PlatoHealth. Biotech and Clinical Trials Intelligence. Access Here.
- Source: https://www.biocentury.com/article/654369/the-two-faces-of-jay-bhattacharya