President-Elect Trump Proposes Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to Lead NIH

President-elect Trump announced his intent for Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, to serve as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Bhattacharya is a professor of health policy at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute and Stanford School of Medicine. A Stanford-educated physician and economist, he was critical of the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement was posted on the president-elect’s social media platform, Truth Social, writing Bhattacharya would work in coordination with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to “direct the Nation’s Medical Research, and to make important discoveries that will improve…health, and save lives.”

The nomination must go through the U.S. Senate for approval before it is finalized. If confirmed, Dr. Bhattacharya will oversee a $47 billion budget that oversees clinical trials, efforts to develop drugs and issues research grants, among other tasks.

For more information, contact Katie Grady, American College of Radiology® Government Affairs Director.