Dr. Jay Bhattacharya appointed acting director of CDC
The director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, will also take on the temporary role of acting director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an administration official told CNN Wednesday, reports BritPanorama.
Bhattacharya will retain his position as head of the NIH while also serving as the leader of the CDC until President Donald Trump appoints a permanent director, a process requiring Senate confirmation.
He succeeds HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill, who had been guiding the CDC as acting director since August 2024, following the removal of Dr. Susan Monarez after her disagreements with Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. regarding vaccine policy and leadership dismissals.
O’Neill departed from his role last Friday amid a broader restructuring at the CDC. He faced criticism for amplifying anti-vaccine messaging and for the US withdrawal from the World Health Organization, along with being described as an ineffective communicator.
Prior to his current administrative role, Bhattacharya worked as a health economist and professor at Stanford University Medical School. He is known for co-authoring the Great Barrington Declaration, a statement released shortly before the availability of Covid-19 vaccines that criticized certain pandemic mitigation strategies.
The Declaration advocated for protecting the most vulnerable while allowing others to resume a normal life to achieve herd immunity through virus exposure, a viewpoint that attracted significant criticism from health professionals worldwide. The director-general of the World Health Organization deemed this approach “unethical.” In subsequent congressional testimony, Bhattacharya noted that he and the Declaration faced suppression and censorship from major scientific entities.
As NIH head, Bhattacharya has encountered resistance from numerous staff members. Recently, significant staff cuts were reported across multiple federal health agencies, including the NIH. In June 2025, some NIH scientists issued the Bethesda Declaration, critiquing perceived political influences on research and the erosion of scientific integrity under the Trump administration.
The Trump administration has proposed a 40% cut to the NIH budget, resulting in the termination of thousands of grants in the year and a half since he took office.
As NIH director, Bhattacharya has frequently spoken on the need to restore public trust in the government’s health and scientific responses.
The developments surrounding the CDC and NIH highlight ongoing debates about public health governance and scientific policy in the United States.
