Research!America Statement on Nomination of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to Head the National Institutes of Health

November 27, 2024

Research!America, a nonprofit medical and health research alliance, released the following statement today following the nomination of Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., PhD, to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH):

We congratulate Dr. Jay Bhattacharya on his nomination to serve as the Director of the National Institutes of Health. As a physician and researcher at Stanford University who has led and collaborated on an extensive body of health economics and health services research, Dr. Bhattacharya brings important strengths to the nomination process.

We look forward to learning more about Dr. Bhattacharya’s vision for the NIH, knowing that the director plays a pivotal role in ensuring the Institutes meet Americans’ expectations for the future of medical and health research.  According to recent national public opinion surveys Research!America commissioned:

• 88% of Americans agree that basic scientific research is necessary and should be supported by the federal government.
• 63% would be willing to pay $1 per week more in taxes to support additional medical and health research.
• 89% say it is important that the U.S. is a global leader in research to improve health.

We believe it has never been more important to invest robustly in the research NIH conducts and supports. The NIH Director can set a bold course by making the case for greater investment that promotes answers for the myriad of threats to individual lives and the public’s health. Treating NIH funding as a top national priority is a strategy that will spur U.S. business and job growth across our life science, technology, manufacturing, and service sectors. It will also send a powerful message to China and other competitor nations as they seek to undercut our global standing and economic leadership; and position our country to pre-empt and respond to arising health security threats like bird flu.

More than 600,000 Americans will lose their lives to cancer this year. Thirty percent of children with a rare genetic disease will not live to their fifth birthday. These and other difficult realities speak to the need for a bolder effort against deadly and debilitating health threats. Federal support for NIH and rock-solid leadership will determine whether we defeat enemies like Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and the opioid crisis, or if those vicious killers will be left to continue robbing Americans of time, independence, and loved ones. That is fundamentally why the choice of NIH Director is so critically important.

We look forward to hearing Dr. Bhattacharya’s insights into strengthening the NIH during the nomination process.