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

Andrew Huberman

Jun 9, 2025

Episode 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

Episode 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

Mindsip insights from this episode:

Challenge drug pricing to reduce American burden in global R&D

Americans pay 2 to 10 times more for the same drugs as Europeans, effectively serving as the 'piggy bank for the world' for the entire research pipeline.

Investigate diverse causes of autism beyond vaccines

The NIH is launching a major, open-minded initiative to investigate the multiple potential causes for the rise in autism, not just focusing on vaccines.

Access NIH research papers for free starting July

Starting in July, all research papers funded by the NIH will be available to the public for free immediately upon publication.

Ensure COVID boosters demonstrate efficacy against severe outcomes

The FDA will now require COVID boosters to show efficacy in preventing severe outcomes like hospitalization and death, not just that they produce antibodies.

Evaluate COVID vaccine risks for healthy young men

The NIH Director believes the COVID vaccine is likely net harmful for healthy young men between the ages of 12 and 30 due to the risk of myocarditis.

Reevaluate lockdown strategies based on Sweden's success

The speaker argues lockdowns were a mistake, citing that Sweden, which did not lock down schools, had the lowest all-cause excess deaths in Europe.

Implement NIH's three-part plan to resolve replication crisis in science

The NIH plans to fix the replication crisis by funding replication work, creating a journal for it, and rewarding scientists for pro-social behaviors like data sharing.

Encourage young scientists to innovate early in their careers

Research shows that early-career scientists are the most likely to try out new ideas, and a scientist's innovativeness declines with each year post-PhD.

Address stagnating US life expectancy with proactive health measures

Despite massive biomedical investment, American life expectancy was flat from 2012-2019, and the next generation is likely to live shorter, less healthy lives.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Unlock the wisdom of longevity

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Unlock the wisdom of longevity

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Unlock the wisdom of longevity

Unlock the wisdom of longevity

© Mindsip 2025 – Made with ❤ in Vilnius

Unlock the wisdom of longevity

© Mindsip 2025 – Made with ❤ in Vilnius