Improving Science & Restoring Trust in Public Health | Dr. Jay Bhattacharya
from Huberman Lab
by Scicomm Media
Published: Mon Jun 09 2025
Show Notes
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.
Read the episode show notes at hubermanlab.com.
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Timestamps
Jay Bhattacharya
National Institutes of Health (NIH), Mission
Funding, Basic vs. Applied Research
Sponsors: David & Eight Sleep
Indirect Costs (IDC), Policies & Distribution
Taxpayer Funding, Journal Access, Public Transparency
Taxpayer Funding, Patents; Drug Costs in the USA vs Other Countries
Reducing Medication Prices; R&D, Improving Health
Sponsors: AG1 & Levels
Lowering IDC?, Endowments, Monetary Distribution, Scientific Groupthink
Grant Review Process, Innovation
R01s, Tenure, Early Career Scientists & Novel Ideas
Sociology of Grant Evaluation, Careerism in Science, Failures
“Sick Care” System, Health Needs
Sponsor: LMNT
Incentives in Science, H-Index, Replication Crisis
Scientists, Data Fraud, Changing Careers
NIH & Changing Incentive Structure, Replication, Pro-Social Behavior
Scientific Discovery, Careers & Changing Times, Journals & Publications
NIH Grants & Appeals, Under-represented Populations, DEI
Inductive vs Deductive Science; DEI & Grants; Young Scientists & NIH Funding
Grant Funding, Identity & Race; Shift in NIH Priorities
Public Trust & Science, COVID Pandemic, Lockdowns, Masks
Pandemic Mandates & Economic Inequality; Fear; Public Health & Free Speech
Masks, Harms, Public Health Messaging, Uniformity, Groupthink, Vaccines
Academic Ostracism, Public Health Messaging & Opposition
Culture of American Science, Discourse & Disagreement
Vaccines, COVID Vaccines, Benefits & Harms
Vaccine Mandates, Money, Public Health Messaging, Civil Liberties
COVID Vaccines, Long-Term Effects; Long COVID, Vaccine Injury, Flu Shots
Do Vaccines Cause Autism?; What Explains Rise in Autism
Autism & NIH; MAHA & Restructuring NIH?
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