Stanford-trained physician and economist Dr. Jay Bhattacharya has been officially nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as the next director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Trump made the announcement via a Truth Social post, stating:
“I am thrilled to nominate Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, to serve as Director of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Bhattacharya will work in cooperation with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to direct the Nation’s Medical Research, and to make important discoveries that will improve Health, and save lives.”

🚨 NEW: President Trump announces the nomination of @DrJBhattacharya to Director of the National Institutes of Health. pic.twitter.com/gAweeO8jBC

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) November 27, 2024

Bhattacharya met with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earlier this week, who has been nominated by Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). According to The Washington Post, Kennedy was impressed by Bhattacharya’s vision for transforming the NIH, which oversees U.S. biomedical research, allocates funding grants, and supports drug and therapeutic development.

The Senate, which will have a Republican majority in January, must confirm Bhattacharya’s nomination. His proposed agenda includes redirecting the NIH’s focus toward innovative research and reducing the influence of long-serving officials.

Kennedy Jr., instrumental in shaping Trump’s health care team, has also supported other key appointments. These include Johns Hopkins surgeon Marty Makary to lead the Food and Drug Administration, former Republican congressman and internal medicine physician Dave Weldon for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Janette Nesheiwat as surgeon general. All nominees will require Senate approval.

Bhattacharya gained national attention during the COVID-19 pandemic for his criticism of the federal government’s response. In October 2020, he co-authored an open letter advocating for an end to widespread shutdowns while maintaining “focused protections” for vulnerable groups such as the elderly. The proposal was widely supported by Republican lawmakers but criticized by public health officials, including then-NIH Director Francis S. Collins, as premature and risky given the lack of available vaccines at the time.

I'm so grateful to President Trump for this spectacular appointment. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is the ideal leader to restore NIH as the international template for gold-standard science and evidence-based medicine. pic.twitter.com/NakHavsblX

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) November 27, 2024

Bhattacharya has also called for reducing the power of the NIH’s 27 institutes and centers, arguing that entrenched career officials improperly influenced national policy during the pandemic and suppressed dissenting perspectives.

Bhattacharya and other agency critics have openly criticized former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, who was a central figure in shaping the U.S. pandemic response during both the Trump and Biden administrations. Fauci retired in December 2022.

The NIH has faced scrutiny from Republican lawmakers, who have charged that its leadership mishandled the pandemic response and called for sweeping reforms to the agency. Bhattacharya’s nomination signals Trump’s intent to implement significant changes at the helm of U.S. biomedical research.