Jay Bhattacharya now sits at the apex of American public health. As director of the National Institutes of Health, he already oversees the country’s biomedical research agenda. Now, as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he temporarily controls the nation’s disease surveillance and response machinery as well. The unusual consolidation of power has triggered unease among former officials and public health experts, who warn that the arrangement risks stretching leadership capacity at a moment of institutional instability.
The concerns were first detailed in reporting by The Hill.
