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Who is Dr. Jay Bhattacharya? Trump’s pick to lead the NIH faces Senate confirmation hearing

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Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is set to appear at a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday to lead the National Institutes of Health .

He is a physician who wrote an open letter urging public health officials to roll back Covid lockdowns.

The letter argued for letting the virus spread among young, healthy individuals at lower risk of severe illness or death, while protecting older people at higher risk.

Experts say more resources are already dedicated to chronic illness than infectious diseases.

Bhattacharya also needs to be clear as to whether he would restructure NIH .

It's also unclear if he would support Kennedy ’s push for shifting the NIH 's focus away from infectious diseases and toward chronic diseases like obesity.