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Improving Science & Restoring Trust in Public Health | Dr. Jay Bhattacharya

2025-06-09 Science & Technology
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Andrew Huberman
Andrew Huberman
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Description

My guest is Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, ⁠Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)⁠ and ⁠Professor Emeritus of Health Policy at Stanford University⁠. We discuss which scientific questions ought to be the priority for NIH, how to incentivize bold, innovative science especially from younger labs, how to solve the replication crisis and restore trust and transparency in science and public health, including acknowledging prior failures by the NIH. We discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and the data and sociological factors that motivated lockdowns, masking and vaccine mandates. Dr. Bhattacharya shares his views on how to resolve the vaccine–autism debate and how best to find the causes and cures for autism and chronic diseases. The topics we cover impact everyone: male, female, young and old and, given that NIH is the premier research and public health organization in the world, extend to Americans and non-Americans alike. Episode show notes: https://go.hubermanlab.com/gkuDlhO *Thank you to our sponsors* AG1: ⁠https://drinkag1.com/huberman David: ⁠https://davidprotein.com/huberman Eight Sleep: ⁠https://eightsleep.com/huberman Levels: https://levels.link/huberman LMNT: ⁠https://drinklmnt.com/huberman *Follow Huberman Lab* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hubermanlab Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hubermanlab X: https://twitter.com/hubermanlab Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hubermanlab TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hubermanlab LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-huberman Website: https://www.hubermanlab.com Newsletter: https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter *Dr. Jay Bhattacharya* National Institutes of Health (NIH): https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/nih-director Stanford academic profile: https://profiles.stanford.edu/jay-bhattacharya X: https://x.com/drjbhattacharya Great Barrington Declaration: https://gbdeclaration.org Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2wH43aAAAAAJ *Timestamps* 00:00:00 Jay Bhattacharya 00:06:56 National Institutes of Health (NIH), Mission 00:09:12 Funding, Basic vs. Applied Research 00:18:22 Sponsors: David & Eight Sleep 00:21:20 Indirect Costs (IDC), Policies & Distribution 00:30:43 Taxpayer Funding, Journal Access, Public Transparency 00:38:14 Taxpayer Funding, Patents; Drug Costs in the USA vs Other Countries 00:48:50 Reducing Medication Prices; R&D, Improving Health 01:00:01 Sponsors: AG1 & Levels 01:02:55 Lowering IDC?, Endowments, Monetary Distribution, Scientific Groupthink 01:12:29 Grant Review Process, Innovation 01:21:43 R01s, Tenure, Early Career Scientists & Novel Ideas 01:31:46 Sociology of Grant Evaluation, Careerism in Science, Failures 01:39:08 “Sick Care” System, Health Needs 01:44:01 Sponsor: LMNT 01:45:33 Incentives in Science, H-Index, Replication Crisis 01:58:54 Scientists, Data Fraud, Changing Careers 02:03:59 NIH & Changing Incentive Structure, Replication, Pro-Social Behavior 02:15:26 Scientific Discovery, Careers & Changing Times, Journals & Publications 02:19:56 NIH Grants & Appeals, Under-represented Populations, DEI 02:28:58 Inductive vs Deductive Science; DEI & Grants; Young Scientists & NIH Funding 02:39:38 Grant Funding, Identity & Race; Shift in NIH Priorities 02:51:23 Public Trust & Science, COVID Pandemic, Lockdowns, Masks 03:04:41 Pandemic Mandates & Economic Inequality; Fear; Public Health & Free Speech 03:13:39 Masks, Harms, Public Health Messaging, Uniformity, Groupthink, Vaccines 03:22:48 Academic Ostracism, Public Health Messaging & Opposition 03:30:26 Culture of American Science, Discourse & Disagreement 03:36:03 Vaccines, COVID Vaccines, Benefits & Harms 03:47:05 Vaccine Mandates, Money, Public Health Messaging, Civil Liberties 03:54:52 COVID Vaccines, Long-Term Effects; Long COVID, Vaccine Injury, Flu Shots 04:06:47 Do Vaccines Cause Autism?; What Explains Rise in Autism 04:18:33 Autism & NIH; MAHA & Restructuring NIH? 04:25:47 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow & Reviews, Sponsors, YouTube Feedback, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Disclaimer & Disclosures: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer

Top Comments (10)

@ColoradoClouds 2025-06-09

No one walked away from the Covid era thinking “wow, my doctor/government/science really cares for me”.

392 42 replies
@katgreen4149 2025-06-11

Dr Jay Bhattacharya deserves more than the NIH Director title. He deserves a medal and public apology.

168 19 replies
@hubermanlab 2025-06-09

Thank you for watching. If you enjoyed this topic and episode, please click the "like" button and subscribe to our channel here on YouTube. Thank you for your interest in science! -- Andrew

146 14 replies
@lindastrykers 2025-06-09

The most critical interview you've done so far. I gave up on health care in this country. For many reasons, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya gives me hope!

124
@juanpablogenda 2025-06-09

44:19 I'm only 45 minutes into this conversation and I'm very appreciative of your effort in setting it up in an honest, assertive and transparent way.

93 2 replies
@TraversFlynn 2025-06-09

As someone injured by the COVID vaccine, I appreciate this conversation. Its a small step but in the right direction.

70 7 replies
@twkr 2025-06-11

Good man. My faith in humanity cannot be restored after I saw my neighbours attacking me out of fear of some virus. But this man is good.

52
@jessicajudd9349 2025-06-12

The discussion on how it is difficult and discouraging to rise as an early career scientist is 100% correct. But the current NIH policy of funding cuts, pulling grants midway through a project, and general uncertainty is actively making this problem worse.

48 4 replies
@Voy2378 2025-06-10

Johnson & Johnson made 14 billion profit in 2024, so much for them needing high prices to fund R&D.

23
@Answeriz42 2025-06-14

I’m only about a third in, but already this seems to be one of the best episodes to date. Every point being touched is very relevant to the whole scientific infrastructure.

11

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