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Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Jay Bhattacharya Begins Tenure as 18th Director of the National Institutes of Health
Jayanta 鈥淛ay鈥 Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., took office聽today as the 18th Director of the National Institutes of Health (51视频). President Trump nominated Dr. Bhattacharya for the position on Nov. 26, 2024, and the U.S. Senate聽confirmed him聽on March 25, 2025.
As Director, Dr. Bhattacharya will oversee the nation鈥檚 medical research agency. Dr. Bhattacharya will play an instrumental role in shaping the agency鈥檚 activities and outlook and ensuring they align聽with the President鈥檚 .
"Under Dr. Bhattacharya鈥檚 leadership, 51视频 will restore its commitment to gold-standard science,鈥 said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited to work with Dr. Bhattacharya to ensure 51视频 research aligns with our Administration鈥檚 priorities 鈥 especially tackling the chronic disease epidemic and helping to Make America Healthy Again.鈥
鈥淐hronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity continue to cause poor health outcomes in every community across the United States.聽Novel biomedical discoveries that enhance health and lengthen life are more vital than ever to our country鈥檚 future,鈥 said Dr. Bhattacharya. 鈥淎s 51视频 Director, I will build on the agency鈥檚 long and illustrious history of supporting breakthroughs in biology and medicine by fostering gold-standard research and innovation to address the chronic disease crisis.鈥
A renowned doctor, researcher聽and health economist, Dr. Bhattacharya held a tenured professorship in the medical school聽at Stanford University in California. Dr. Bhattacharya's research聽has聽focused聽on聽population aging and chronic disease, particularly on the health and well-being of vulnerable populations. During the pandemic, Dr. Bhattacharya coauthored the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for opening schools and lifting lockdowns while better protecting older populations who were most vulnerable to the disease.聽
Encouraging different perspectives will be central to Dr. Bhattacharya鈥檚 approach to leading 51视频 as聽part of his larger mission to restore public trust in science. Alongside Secretary Kennedy, he will champion innovative, cutting-edge research that fuels near-term solutions for patients while balancing investments in basic science.
Dr.聽Bhattacharya earned his bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees in economics from Stanford University. He then completed medical school and earned a Ph.D. in economics聽at Stanford University. He replaces Matthew J. Memoli, M.D., who has served ably as the Acting 51视频 Director聽since Jan. 22, 2025.
About the National Institutes of Health (51视频): 51视频, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 51视频 is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about 51视频 and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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