Jay Bhattacharya Appointed Acting Head Of CDC

WASHINGTON, DC -Jay Bhattacharya has been named as the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the world’s premier public health agency.

Bhattacharya, who now heads the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will simultaneously hold the CDC position.

He steps into the CDC, which, like the rest of the federal health establishment, has been enmeshed in controversies under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and has seen frequent leadership changes.

Susan Monarez was fired as CDC director in August after less than a month on the job following a clash with Kennedy, a vaccine sceptic.

Deputy Health Secretary Jim O’Neill was then appointed temporary head of the CDC, and Bhattacharya now takes over from him.

Kolkata-born Bhattacharya, who holds both a medical degree and a PhD in economics, was a professor at Stanford University’s medical school in California when President Donald Trump tapped him to lead the NIH.

He rose to national prominence during the Covid pandemic by questioning the prevailing orthodoxy of the government health establishment, which imposed extended, broad lockdowns to combat the disease, and went head-to-head with Anthony Fauci, widely regarded as the architect of the official policy.

That stance caught the attention of Trump and Kennedy.

The Atlanta-based CDC has a $9.7 billion budget to address threats to public health in the US and worldwide.

Through its 25 centers and institutes, along with a network of laboratories, it monitors and develops strategies to control infectious diseases, food-borne pathogens, environmental health problems, and non-infectious conditions such as obesity and diabetes.

Occupational safety, health, and injury prevention also fall within its remit.

Another Indian American physician, Vinay Prasad, also holds a senior position in the US health establishment.

He serves as the director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Centre for Biologics Evaluation and Research, which monitors the safety, purity, and effectiveness of biologics, including vaccines and gene therapies.

Prasad, who took up the helm of the center in May, quit the job on July 29 but returned on August 9 at the request of FDA leadership. (IANS)