WASHINGTON — Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health, on Wednesday appeared to be open to funding new studies investigating links between vaccines and autism — a theory that has been debunked by decades of research.
Bhattacharya, a Stanford University professor of medicine, said during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that he doesn’t “generally believe” there’s a link between vaccines and autism.
However, he didn’t rule out devoting funding to new research, noting the wide public distrust of vaccines and the fact that scientists still don’t know what’s causing rising autism rates.
“I would support a broad scientific agenda, based on data, to get an answer to that,” Bhattacharya said.
His response appeared to rankle the committee chair, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La, who spoke about fears from public health experts that the government might direct resources toward a new study.
In recent days — amid a measles outbreak in West Texas that has led to at least 159 cases, mostly in unvaccinated children — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has suggested that vaccination against measles is important but has stopped short of fully endorsing it, instead doubling down on supplements like vitamin A and cod liver oil, which do not prevent infection. (Cassidy, who is also a physician, was a key vote in support of Kennedy’s confirmation last month.)
A link between vaccines and autism has been “exhaustively studied” and would be a waste of NIH resources, Cassidy said. “If we continue to plow the barren ground of something that has already been validated multiple times, that there is not a connection between vaccination and autism, we don’t have the money to go after the real thing.”
“If we’re p—ing money away over here, that’s less money that we have to go after the true reason,” he added.
NIH resources were a common topic during Bhattacharya’s hearing. The agency has a budget of nearly $50 billion and is the largest funder of biomedical research in the world.
In February, the Trump administration suspended NIH reviews of new grant applications, preventing it from funding new research, and adopted a policy that reduced indirect funding to universities.
Experts say they fear the moves could upend progress in developing lifesaving treatments.
“I am deeply concerned about the funding there and the research that has been stopped,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., told Bhattacharya, adding that she wants “strong assurances” that he would “get that moving again.”
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., asked him, “If confirmed, will you commit to reversing funding freezes at NIH?”
Bhattacharya sidestepped those questions — he said he wasn’t involved in those decisions, as he hasn’t yet been confirmed to lead the NIH — but said that he would look into it.
“I’m going to assess it Day 1,” he said. “I’m going to understand the resources the whole NIH needs and make sure that the scientists working at NIH have resources to do the lifesaving work that they do and that the scientists that are supported by the NIH also have that.”
Bhattacharya also vowed to make advances in treatments for chronic diseases like obesity, saying the goal of the NIH is to “make Americans healthy.”
The Trump administration has said tackling chronic diseases is one its major focuses.
“I don’t have the answer on how to solve the obesity crisis,” he said. “But I want to make sure the research out there has the support of the NIH.”
Lawmakers like Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., called out what he described as wasteful spending, referring to an old federally funded study that involved putting shrimp on a treadmill. Bhattacharya appeared to be open to only funding studies where the impact on Americans is clear.
“I think you want to make sure studies are focused on the diseases that are hurting Americans, [like] obesity,” Paul said.
However, a lot of preclinical research, which is carried out before studies are run in humans, can seem unrelated to where it leads. For example, studies of the venom of a giant lizard called a Gila monster led to the development of the blockbuster GLP-1 drugs, now used for weight loss and diabetes.
Bhattacharya said he doesn’t support further job cuts when questioned about billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency’s initiative to reduce federal spending across the federal government.
“I don’t have any intention to cut anyone at the NIH,” Bhattacharya said.
Republican lawmakers also appeared to use the hearing as an opportunity to air out grievances about the Biden administration’s response to the Covid pandemic.
Bhattacharya became a polarizing figure during the pandemic due to his opposition to Covid lockdowns. He was a co-author of the “Great Barrington Declaration,” a letter that 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, with the goal of reaching herd immunity.
“Transparency and trust is going to have to be earned again,” Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. “Most people in this country don’t know what NIH stands for, but now they do because of Covid.”
