The director of the National Institutes of Health is poised to take on one of the most powerful roles in American public health. Dr Jay Bhattacharya, an Indian-origin physician and health economist, is set to become acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to reports first published by The New York Times and confirmed by administration officials.
If formalised, the move would see Bhattacharya lead both the NIH and the CDC — two agencies central to the United States’ health and research infrastructure. President Donald Trump has not publicly announced the change, and the appointment is expected to be temporary until a permanent CDC director is nominated and confirmed by the Senate.
The decision comes amid continued upheaval at the Atlanta-based CDC during Trump’s second term. Former director Susan Monarez was removed less than a month after her Senate confirmation. She later told lawmakers she had refused to approve changes to the childhood vaccination schedule without supporting scientific evidence. Her departure followed that of Jim O’Neill, who had been serving as acting director.
Bhattacharya would become the third leader of the CDC in less than a year, as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pursues a broader restructuring of federal health agencies.
Who is Jay Bhattacharya?
Jay Bhattacharya is a physician, economist and academic who took office as the 18th director of the National Institutes of Health on 1 April 2025. He was nominated by President Trump in November 2024 and confirmed by the Senate in March.
Before joining government, he was a tenured professor at Stanford University, where his work focused on population ageing, chronic disease and the health of vulnerable communities.
Key facts about Jay Bhattacharya:
- Born to Indian parents, he trained in both medicine and economics at Stanford University.
- Holds an MD and a PhD in economics, with more than 170 peer-reviewed research publications.
- Directed Stanford’s Center on the Demography and Economics of Health and Aging.
- Served as a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and worked at the RAND Corporation.
- Co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration in 2020, which called for ending widespread Covid-19 lockdowns while focusing protection on older and vulnerable people.
- Has been a longtime NIH grant recipient and member of multiple NIH review panels.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Bhattacharya emerged as a prominent critic of school closures and blanket shutdowns. The Great Barrington Declaration drew fierce opposition from parts of the public health establishment, including former NIH director Francis Collins, who dismissed its authors as “fringe epidemiologists”. Conservatives, however, rallied behind Bhattacharya, viewing him as a voice against excessive restrictions.
