President-elect Donald Trump names a critic of COVID-19 lockdown policies to head the National Institutes of Health.
In a statement, Trump said he selected Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to serve as NIH director to work cooperatively with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — whom Trump named as his choice for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services – to lead the nation’s medical research.
“Together, Jay and RFK Jr. will restore the NIH to the gold standard in medical research by examining the underlying causes and solutions to America’s greatest health challenges, including our chronic disease crisis,” Trump said in the statement. statement. “Together they will work hard to make America healthy again!
UNITED STATES – Dr. Jay Bhattacharya speaks during a roundtable discussion with members of the House Freedom Caucus on the COVID-19 pandemic at the Heritage Foundation on Thursday, November 10, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag
Bhattacharya is a professor of health policy at Stanford University who rose to prominence by openly opposing COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
In addition to a medical degree, he has a doctorate in economics.
Trump also nominated Jim O’Neil as deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to “oversee all operations and improve management, transparency and accountability,” according to a statement.
