Nominations Moving Through the Senate

Last week, Jayanta Bhattacharya, MD, who is nominated for director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), outlined five key goals if confirmed by the Senate:

1. Solve the ongoing chronic disease crisis.
2. Resolve NIH’s crisis regarding scientific data reliability.
3. Protect free speech and scientific dissent at NIH.
4. Recommit to funding innovative biomedical research.
5. Embrace regulating risky research that could cause another pandemic.

In addition to Dr. Bhattacharya’s nomination, the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing on March 13, to confirm Dave Weldon, MD, as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The following day, March 14, the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing to confirm Mehmet Oz, MD, as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

The Academy will continue to track these nominations as they move through the Senate confirmation process.