President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) appointed Stanford academic and Covid-19 policy critic Jay Bhattacharya as the head of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Stanford scholar Jay Bhattacharya named head of NIH. (Stanford Health Policy)
The NIH, a part of the US Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation's top medical research agency.
• Born in Kolkata in 1968, Jay Bhattacharya pursued both his MD and PhD in economics at Stanford University.
• He is a professor of health policy at Stanford University and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He also directs Stanford's Center for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging.
• Jay Bhattacharya’s research revolves around the health and well-being of vulnerable populations, emphasising the links between economics, biomedical advancements, and government policies.
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• Jay Bhattacharya’s research revolves around the health and well-being of vulnerable populations, emphasising the links between economics, biomedical advancements, and government policies.
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• During the pandemic, Jay Bhattacharya’s work explored the epidemiology of Covid-19 and evaluated government responses. He has called for reforms in public health agencies to foster innovation and adjust bureaucratic power dynamics.
• Jay Bhattacharya was a vocal critic of the US government's Covid-19 policies during the pandemic.
• In March 2020, Jay Bhattacharya co-authored an opinion piece in titled ‘Is the Coronavirus as Deadly as They Say?’. The article argued that there was insufficient evidence to justify shelter-in-place orders and quarantines.
• In October 2020, Jay Bhattacharya co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration, advocating for a return to normal life for those not at risk of the virus. Later, Bhattacharya filed a lawsuit against the government, claiming it pressured social media platforms to censor his views.
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Home/India News/Who is Jay Bhattacharya? Kolkata-born academic picked by Donald Trump to lead US' National Institutes of Health
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