TOI correspondent from Washington: In a sweeping consolidation of federal health leadership, US President Donald Trump has appointed Indian-American Dr Jay Bhattacharya, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The move marks the first time any individual has led the nation’s premier medical research agency and its primary public health agency at once, marking an unprecedented step in US public health leadership amid ongoing turmoil in scientific institutions.
The White House framed the decision as a necessary step to synchronize federal health policy, with Administration officials suggesting the dual-role strategy is designed to bridge the gap between biomedical research and public health implementation. Bhattacharya replaces Jim O’Neill, who is slated to lead the National Science Foundation (NSF) after its director, Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan, resigned following significant funding cuts.
