Who is Jay Bhattacharya? Kolkata-born academic picked by Donald Trump to lead US' National Institutes of Health

President-elect Donald Trump appointed Jay Bhattacharya as head of the NIH. He is a Stanford academic and known as Covid-19 policy critic.

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.

Who is Jay Bhattacharya?

• 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.

• 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.