US Senate confirms Indian-orgin scient Jay Bhattacharya as Director of National Institutes of Health | World News

The US Senate Tuesday confirmed Indian-origin American scient Jay Bhattacharya as the new Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the nation’s premier health research and funding organization. The confirmation came after a 53-47 vote, according to the official US Senate website, news agency PTI reported.
US President Donald Trump, the then President-elect, nominated Bhattacharya as the 18th NIH Director in November last year. Expressing his confidence in Bhattacharya’s leadership, he said, “Dr. Bhattacharya will work in cooperation with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to direct the Nation’s Medical Research and to make important discoveries that will improve health and save lives.”
Who is Jay Bhattacharya?
Jay Bhattacharya is a professor of health policy and economics at Stanford University, where he also earned his MD and PhD. He is the director of Stanford’s Center on the Demography and Economics of Health and Aging. His research focuses on the challenges faced vulnerable populations in making decisions that impact their health and the effects of government policies designed to ass these groups.
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Bhattacharya has authored several research papers on a wide range of topics, including the economic cost of dementia and frailty among the elderly in Japan, and the correlation between drug reimbursements and their performance. In 2022, he co-authored a paper exploring why East Asian countries like Japan and Korea saw fewer COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations during the first year of the pandemic, attributing it to pre-exing immunity in the region.
Bhattacharya’s commitment to science and public health
During his confirmation hearing, Bhattacharya highlighted the politicization of science and public health, stressing that trust in health officials and experts has eroded. He said, “The NIH should support science that is replicable, reproducible, and generalizable. Unfortunately, much of modern biomedical science fails this basic test.”

“If confirmed, I will carry out President Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again and committing the NIH to address the dire chronic health needs of the country with gold-standard science and innovation,” Bhattacharya added further.
Stanford Medicine’s congratulations
Stanford Medicine congratulated Bhattacharya on his appointment, praising his commitment to public service. The institution expressed its full support for the NIH’s mission, stating, “As an institution, we are staunch supporters of the NIH’s mission, which continues to advance the frontiers of medical knowledge and unlock new possibilities for health improvement.”Story continues below this ad
Senators’ support for Bhattacharya
US Senator Mitch McConnell from Kentucky also expressed his support for Bhattacharya, saying, “I voted today to confirm Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health. With an extensive background in medical research, I expect @DrJBhattacharya to provide sound leadership at the @NIH.”