Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), emphasized his commitment to tackling the chronic disease crisis in the United States. If confirmed, he pledged to leverage cutting-edge science and innovation to address the nation’s pressing health concerns.
During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on March 5, Bhattacharya underscored the need for NIH funding to focus on studying population aging, chronic diseases, and obesity.
“The NIH can and must solve the crisis of scientific data reliability, under my leadership if confirmed it will do so,” he stated. “Third, if confirmed, I will establish a culture of respect for free speech in science and scientific descent at the NIH. Over the last few years, top NIH officials oversaw a culture of cover-up and a lack of tolerance for ideas that differed from theirs. I’ll foster a culture where NIH leadership will actively encourage different perspectives and create an environment where scientists who disagree with me can express disagreement respectfully.”
Bhattacharya also outlined his broader agenda for NIH reforms. “Fourth on my agenda is that the NIH must recommit to its mission to fund the most Innovative biomedical research agenda possible to improve American Health. I plan to ensure that the NIH invests in cutting-edge research in every field to make big advances rather than just small incremental progress over the years,” he explained.
He further emphasized the importance of transparency and regulation in high-risk research. “Fifth, the NIH must embrace and vigorously regulate risky research that has the possibility of causing a pandemic. It should embrace transparency in all its operations. While the vast majority of biomedical research poses no risk of harm to research subjects or the public, the NIH must ensure that it never supports work that might cause harm. If confirmed, I will work with Congress and the administration to guarantee that happens,” he asserted.
Bhattacharya acknowledged existing challenges within public scientific institutions and vowed to align NIH operations with Trump’s agenda. “While I believe there are real problems to be addressed, if confirmed, I’ll carry out President Trump’s agenda of making the public science institutions of this country worthy of trust and serve to make America healthy again,” he said.
He referenced a November 2024 Pew Research Center study highlighting a decline in public confidence in scientists, with only 26% expressing a high degree of trust in scientists to act in the public’s best interest, while 23% expressed little to no confidence. “Post-pandemic American biomedical sciences are at a crossroads,” he remarked.
He elaborated on his professional background and connection to the NIH. “The NIH has played a pivotal role in my career. I served for a decade as a standing member of NIH grant committees and helped train many trainees for scientific careers with NIH support. I want NIH funding to study population aging chronic disease and obesity. I’ve made the study of scientific institutions, including the NIH itself, a focus of my own scientific work. The NIH is the crown jewel of American Biomedical Sciences with a long and illustrious history of supporting breakthroughs in biology and medicine,” he noted.
Bhattacharya laid out five key priorities for his tenure if confirmed as NIH director. “First, NIH should focus on research that solves the American chronic disease crisis. American Health is going backwards. Life expectancy flatlined between 2012 and 2019 and plummeted during the pandemic and still has not bounced back to pre-pandemic levels,” he said.
He stressed the urgency of addressing chronic diseases, noting that “the chronic disease crisis is severe, with hundreds of millions of Americans, children and adults suffering from obesity, heart disease, cancer, and more.” He reiterated his commitment to Trump and Secretary Kennedy’s agenda of prioritizing chronic health issues with rigorous science and innovation.
He also raised concerns about the reliability of biomedical research. “NIH-supported science should be replicable, reproducible, and generalizable. Unfortunately, much of our modern biomedical science fails this basic test,” he said. He pointed to a research integrity scandal related to Alzheimer’s disease, which put the credibility of hundreds of research papers into question.
“If the data generated by scientists is not reliable, the products of such science cannot help anyone. It is no stretch to think that the slow progress on Alzheimer’s disease is linked to this problem,” Bhattacharya added.
Despite decades of research debunking claims of a connection between vaccines and autism, Bhattacharya did not rule out funding additional studies on the subject. “I don’t generally believe there’s a link between vaccines and autism,” he said during his confirmation hearing. However, he acknowledged public skepticism regarding vaccines and the ongoing lack of clarity surrounding the increasing autism rates.
“I would support a broad scientific agenda, based on data, to get an answer to that,” he stated.
The discussion over NIH resources was a focal point of Bhattacharya’s hearing. NIH currently operates with a budget of nearly $50 billion, making it the world’s largest funder of biomedical research. However, a policy change by the Trump administration in February suspended NIH reviews of new grant applications, effectively halting funding for new research. Additionally, a policy was introduced to reduce indirect funding to universities, a move that has raised concerns among experts who fear it could hinder the development of life-saving treatments.
“I am deeply concerned about the funding and the research that has been stopped,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. She pressed Bhattacharya for assurances, stating, “I want strong assurances that you would get that moving again.”
Similarly, Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., asked, “If confirmed, will you commit to reversing funding freezes at NIH?”
Bhattacharya avoided a direct answer, citing his pending confirmation. However, he promised to evaluate the situation. “I’m going to assess it Day 1. I’m going to understand the resources the whole NIH needs and make sure that the scientists working at NIH have resources to do the lifesaving work that they do and that the scientists that are supported by the NIH also have that,” he assured.
Another contentious issue was the potential for job cuts at NIH. Bhattacharya was questioned about billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative, which aims to reduce federal spending across agencies. When asked about possible staff reductions at NIH, Bhattacharya dismissed the idea.
“I don’t have any intention to cut anyone at the NIH,” he asserted.
As his confirmation process moves forward, Bhattacharya’s leadership approach at NIH will be closely scrutinized, particularly regarding his handling of research funding, chronic disease priorities, and scientific integrity reforms.
