Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD

Biography

Jay Bhattacharya was a Nonresident Senior Scholar at the USC Schaeffer Institute before his appointment as Director of the National Institutes of Health in 2025.

He was previously a Professor of Health Policy at Stanford University and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economics Research. Dr. Bhattacharya’s research focuses on the health and well-being of vulnerable populations, with a particular emphasis on the role of government programs, biomedical innovation, and economics. Dr. Bhattacharya’s recent research focused on the epidemiology of COVID-19 as well as an evaluation of policy responses to the epidemic. His broader research interests encompass the implications of population aging for future population health and medical spending in developed countries, the measurement of physician performance tied to physician payment by insurers, and the role played by biomedical innovation on health. Dr. Bhattacharya’s peer-reviewed research has been published in economics, statistics, legal, medical, public health, and health policy journals. He holds an MD and PhD in economics, both earned at Stanford University.