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Indian -origin Professor Dr. Jai Bhattacharya has been made the head of the American Health Agency. The US Senate confirmed the appointment of Bhattacharya as Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on March 26, 2025. He became the 18th director of NIH.
Jai Bhattacharya is a famous health economist, physician and public policy expert.
Bhattacharya US Health and Human Service Secretary Robert F. Kennedy will work under Junior. Jai Bhattacharya won by a margin of 53-47 in the roll call vote held in the first session of the 119th Congress.
Jai Bhattacharya was born in Kolkata. But, as a child, he moved to the United States with his family. His schooling was completed in America.
Bhattacharya started his Higher Education from Stanford University, USA. Stanford is one of the top universities in the world and is famous in terms of health, science and research.
BA from Stanford University
He studied Bachelors of Arts at Economics from Stanford University. Then in Economics, Etrust inspired him to work towards health economics and policy making.
Doctor of Medicine (MD) is Jai
He obtained a doctoral (Doctor of Medicine-MD) degree from Stanford School of Medicine. This degree gives him the ability to work as a trained physician. After studying Medicine, he did PHD in Economics from Stanford University itself. His PHD research was mainly related to Health Economics and Public Health Policy.
Jai Bhattacharya has done research on healthcare systems, medical innovations and economic problems related to aging (old age).
He has worked as an advisor for several government and private health programs. His research is mainly focused on understanding how expenses, medical innovations and government policies on health services affect the public.
Criticized lockdown and strict restrictions
Jai Bhattacharya Kovid-19 remained in the discussion due to his research and statements during the epidemic. He criticized lockdown and strict sanctions. He also said that the lockdown had a negative impact on both health and economy.
Jai had criticized the policy of closing school and banning small businesses during Kovid. He described it as poor and harmful to middle class of society.
‘Great Barrington Declaration’ manifesto is co-author
Jai wrote the ‘Great Barrington Declaration’ manifesto in October 2020 with Martin Kuldorf of Harvard and Sunetra Gupta of Oxford. It suggested ‘focused protection’ instead of lockdown. That is, focusing on the safety of weak people (elderly, sick), while letting healthy and young population live a normal life so that Herd Immunities develop.
Jai Bhattacharya’s ‘Great Barrington Declaration’ has been published in Research Economics, Statistics, Law, Medicine, Public Health and Health Policy magazines.
WHO described the Great Barrington Declaration as ‘unscientific’
The Great Barrington Declaration launched a global debate over the lockdown. Some considered the answer to the economic and social loss of the lockdown. However, the World Health Organization i.e. WHO and many scientists called it ‘dangerous’ and ‘unscientific’.
Trump nominated as the director of NIH
In November 2024, Jai was nominated by the newly elected President Donald Trump, the director of NIH. Trump had said that Jai and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior together will solve the health challenges of America. In voting in the first session of 119th Congress on 25 March 2025, the US Senate confirmed his appointment by 53-47 votes.
Jai Bhattacharya is the first Indian-American to become NIH director.
NIH is the world’s largest medical research agency. Its budget is $ 48 billion. Jai will decide the direction of its 27 institutions and centers, which performs research on cancer, diabetes, and other diseases.
3+ books and 150+ research paper published
Jai Bhattacharya has written more than 3 books.
- Health Economics
- Health Economics of Japan
- Diary of a Cycosis: How Public Health Discrasated Itself During Kovid Mania (Diary of a Psychosis: How Public Health Disgraced Itself DURING COVID Mania)
Apart from this, Jai Bhattacharya has published more than 150 research papers in areas such as health economics, epidemiology, and public policy. Among them, ‘is the coronavirus as deadly as they say?’ And also includes ‘The Great Barrington Declaration’.
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