Photo: Reuters File
Jay Bhattacharya is now the presumptive favorite to be selected by President-elect Donald Trump as the next director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), according to a report by the Washington Post on Saturday. The report cited three sources familiar with the matter. The Stanford-trained physician and economist recently met with Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Trump's choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and reportedly impressed him with his ideas for reforming the NIH.
Trump's transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Bhattacharya has advocated for a shift in the agency's focus towards funding more innovative research and decreasing the influence of some of its longest-serving career officials, the report noted. Trump appointed Kennedy earlier this month to head the Department of Health and Human Services, the top health agency in the United States, which oversees the NIH and other health-related agencies.
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