Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH), said during today’s confirmation hearing that he opposes vaccine mandates and scientific censorship.
He also told members of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (STEP) that he believes in diverse scientific research and he supports efforts to address today’s chronic disease epidemic.
During his opening statement, Bhattacharya, a critic of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, listed the five priorities he will pursue if confirmed as NIH director:
- Tackle the chronic disease epidemic.
- Support scientific research that is “replicable, reproducible and generalizable.”
- Establish “a culture of respect for free speech in science and scientific dissent.”
- Fund “the most innovative biomedical research agenda possible to improve American health.”
- “Vigorously” regulate research “that has the possibility of causing a pandemic,” such as gain-of-function research.
According to STAT News, if confirmed as NIH director, Bhattacharya will oversee “the biggest funder of biomedical research in the world.” Composed of 27 research institutes and centers, the NIH has a nearly $50 billion budget, NBC News reported.
Following the hearing, Endpoints News reported that Bhattacharya sailed through today’s proceedings and “appears headed for a relatively easy Senate confirmation.”
Bhattacharya supports ‘broad scientific agenda’ to study rise in autism
Early during the hearing, Bhattacharya responded to statements by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the committee, that a link between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism has been debunked and therefore doesn’t require further scientific study.
Bhattacharya responded:
“As far as research on autism and vaccines, I don’t generally believe that there is a link, based on my reading of the literature. But what I have seen is that there’s tremendous distrust in medicine and science coming out of the pandemic.
“We do have … a sharp rise in autism rates in this country, and I don’t know, and I don’t think any scientist really knows, the cause of it. So, I would support [a] broad scientific agenda based on data to get an answer to that.”
Bhattacharya said people’s doubts about vaccines and mistrust toward public health agencies can be addressed by providing “good data.”
“We want answers,” he said. “Parents want answers. Kids are suffering. And the NIH ought to be doing the research that [provides] those answers. That’s the most important thing.”
Bhattacharya called for funding “the most innovative biomedical research agenda possible to improve American health.”
“My plan is to ensure that the NIH invests in cutting-edge research in every field to make big advances rather than just small incremental progress,” Bhattacharya said.
Hellbound and Down 