Another Indian has entered Trump’s government. The newly elected President of the United States, Donald Trump, gave a big responsibility to Indian scientist Jay Bhattacharya. He has been nominated as the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH is one of the nation’s top health research and funding agencies.
Jay Bhattacharya is the first Indian to be nominated for a top administration post in the Trump administration. Earlier, Trump chose Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOJ) along with Tesla company owner Elon Musk. However, this is a voluntary position. It does not require approval by the US Senate. This means the department is not directly connected to Trump’s cabinet and will work outside the government.
Donald Trump announced, ‘Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D. I am very pleased to have been selected as director of the NIH. Bhattacharya Robert F. Together with Kennedy Jr., he will do important work in the field of medical research in the country. They will work towards important research that will improve health and save lives.’
Who is Jay Bhattacharya?
56-year-old Jay Bhattacharya was born in Kolkata, West Bengal. He went to America for higher education. He graduated from Stanford University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts and then a Master of Arts. After that, he obtained the degree of Doctor of Medicine (MD). He did his PhD in Economics in 2000. He is currently a professor of health policy at Stanford University. Not only that, Jay Bhattacharya is a fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and the Freeman Spogli Institute.
In October 2020, Jay Bhattacharya strongly opposed the lockdown and mask policy imposed during the Corona period. He argued in favour of hard immunity to spread it among people to protect against corona. However, in his opinion, he had to face restrictions on social media platforms as well.