Reclaiming Science: The People's NIH

Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D

NIH Director

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya took the helm as 18th director of the National Institutes of Health April 1, 2025. Dr. Bhattacharya is a renowned doctor, researcher, and health economist who previously held a tenured professorship in the medical school at Stanford University in California. His research focused on population aging and chronic disease, particularly on the health and well-being of vulnerable populations. He has published over 170 research papers in peer-reviewed journals in medicine, epidemiology, health policy, economics, statistics, science policy, and public health, as well as a leading textbook on health economics. During the pandemic, Dr. Bhattacharya coauthored the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for opening schools and lifting lockdowns while better protecting older populations who were most vulnerable to the disease. Dr. Bhattacharya is a longtime NIH grantee and has served as a… Read more

Matthew Memoli, M.D.

NIH Principal Deputy Director

Dr. Matthew J. Memoli is the Principal Deputy Director of the National Institutes of Health. He served as Acting NIH Director from January 22, 2025, to March 31, 2025. Dr. Memoli has worked at NIH for more than 20 years, most recently serving as director of the Clinical Studies Unit within the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases (LID), part of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He previously served as a staff clinician in the same laboratory. Dr. Memoli is an internationally known expert in the field of respiratory viruses. He has won multiple awards for his work, including two NIH Director's Awards, multiple NIAID) Merit Awards, and a National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences Director's Award. He also received the 2017 NIAID Outstanding Mentor Award for his work training clinical fellows and other trainees. In addition, he served on the Governor of Virginia's Medical… Read more

Nicole Kleinstreuer, Ph.D

NIH Deputy Director for Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives

Dr. Nicole C. Kleinstreuer is the NIH Deputy Director for Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives. In this role, she leads the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI) within the NIH Office of the Director, which oversees trans-NIH programmatic research and strategic policy initiatives. Dr. Kleinstreuer is internationally recognized for her leadership in developing innovative, human-relevant research strategies that advance public health protection. In prior roles, she led interagency and international efforts to promote new approach methodologies (NAMs), reduce animal testing, and integrate computational modeling, artificial intelligence, and systems toxicology into regulatory science. Her work spans translational bioinformatics, predictive modeling, and quantitative risk assessment. She has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications and received… Read more

Anthony Letai, M.D., Ph.D

National Cancer Institute Director

Dr. Anthony Letai, joined NCI as the 18th director on September 29, 2025. He previously served as professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and medical oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Letai is a physician–scientist whose work has helped transform cancer treatment and advance functional precision medicineIn 2019, the Web of Science Group named Dr. Letai in its list of Highly Cited Researchers, whose papers rank in the top 1% by citations for their field and year of publication, showing his significant impact on his area of research. His career has focused on researching and treating hematological malignancies. His pioneering work in functional precision oncology helped advance therapies such as BCL-2 inhibitors—drugs that are now standard treatment for many adults with leukemia. Dr. Letai received his Bachelor of Arts degree in physics from Princeton University., his M.D. and Ph.D.… Read more

Moderator

Patriek Karayil

MAHA Institute

Patriek Karayil is the Director of Government Relations at MAHA Institute and a former White House Innovation Fellow, where he helped design modern solutions for public-sector challenges. With expertise at the intersection of policy, technology, and civic services, he advances initiatives that strengthen transparency, efficiency, and health freedom. Karayil is known for his strategic leadership and his commitment to empowering institutions that serve people, not bureaucracy.

Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D

NIH Director

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya took the helm as 18th director of the National Institutes of Health April 1, 2025. Dr. Bhattacharya is a renowned doctor, researcher, and health economist who previously held a tenured professorship in the medical school at Stanford University in California. His research focused on population aging and chronic disease, particularly on the health and well-being of vulnerable populations. He has published over 170 research papers in peer-reviewed journals in medicine, epidemiology, health policy, economics, statistics, science policy, and public health, as well as a leading textbook on health economics. During the pandemic, Dr. Bhattacharya coauthored the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for opening schools and lifting lockdowns while better protecting older populations who were most vulnerable to the disease. Dr. Bhattacharya is a longtime NIH grantee and has served as a… Read more

Anthony Letai, M.D., Ph.D

National Cancer Institute Director

Dr. Anthony Letai, joined NCI as the 18th director on September 29, 2025. He previously served as professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and medical oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Letai is a physician–scientist whose work has helped transform cancer treatment and advance functional precision medicineIn 2019, the Web of Science Group named Dr. Letai in its list of Highly Cited Researchers, whose papers rank in the top 1% by citations for their field and year of publication, showing his significant impact on his area of research. His career has focused on researching and treating hematological malignancies. His pioneering work in functional precision oncology helped advance therapies such as BCL-2 inhibitors—drugs that are now standard treatment for many adults with leukemia. Dr. Letai received his Bachelor of Arts degree in physics from Princeton University., his M.D. and Ph.D.… Read more

Moderator

Paul Thacker

Investigative Journalist

Paul D. Thacker is an investigative journalist who runs The DisInformation Chronicle. He has spent the last two decades uncovering campaigns to distort science and has written for the New York Times, JAMA, Washington Post, NEJM, Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, Mother Jones, UnHerd, and Real Clear Investigations. Thacker won a 2021 British Journalism Award for a series in The BMJ that investigated the financial interests of medical experts advising U.S. and U.K. governments during the COVID-19 pandemic. A separate investigation he wrote for The BMJ looked at problems in the clinical trial for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. That article was the finalist for an investigative journalism award and is the most highly viewed article in all of science in 2021. For several years, Thacker led a series of high-profile investigations in the United States Senate examining corruption in science and medicine. This work… Read more

Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D

NIH Director

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya took the helm as 18th director of the National Institutes of Health April 1, 2025. Dr. Bhattacharya is a renowned doctor, researcher, and health economist who previously held a tenured professorship in the medical school at Stanford University in California. His research focused on population aging and chronic disease, particularly on the health and well-being of vulnerable populations. He has published over 170 research papers in peer-reviewed journals in medicine, epidemiology, health policy, economics, statistics, science policy, and public health, as well as a leading textbook on health economics. During the pandemic, Dr. Bhattacharya coauthored the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for opening schools and lifting lockdowns while better protecting older populations who were most vulnerable to the disease. Dr. Bhattacharya is a longtime NIH grantee and has served as a… Read more

Jeffery Taubenberger, M.D., Ph.D

Acting NIAID Director

Dr. Jeffery Taubenberger was named the Acting Director of NIAID in April 2025. He oversees a $6.6 billion budget that supports research to advance the understanding, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases. He is a Senior Investigator in the intramural research program, and serves as Chief of the Viral Pathogenesis and Evolution Section, and Deputy Chief of the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.. He has published over 300 papers and book chapters and is a frequent speaker at national and international meetings. Prior to coming to NIAID in 2006, he served as Chief of Molecular Pathology at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) in Washington, DC, a position he held since 1994. He received a B.S. in Biology from George Mason University in 1982, and an M.D. in 1986 and a Ph.D. in 1987 from the Medical… Read more

Matthew Memoli, M.D.

NIH Principal Deputy Director

Dr. Matthew J. Memoli is the Principal Deputy Director of the National Institutes of Health. He served as Acting NIH Director from January 22, 2025, to March 31, 2025. Dr. Memoli has worked at NIH for more than 20 years, most recently serving as director of the Clinical Studies Unit within the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases (LID), part of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He previously served as a staff clinician in the same laboratory. Dr. Memoli is an internationally known expert in the field of respiratory viruses. He has won multiple awards for his work, including two NIH Director's Awards, multiple NIAID) Merit Awards, and a National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences Director's Award. He also received the 2017 NIAID Outstanding Mentor Award for his work training clinical fellows and other trainees. In addition, he served on the Governor of Virginia's Medical… Read more

John Powers, M.D.

Principal Senior Advisor to the NIAID Director

Dr. Powers is currently serving as the Principal Senior Advisor to the Acting Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. He is also the Director of Collaborative Research with Leidos Biomedical Research in NIAID/NIH. Prior to his current position Dr. Powers was the Lead Medical Officer for Antimicrobial Drug Development at the US Food and Drug Administration. Prior to joining FDA, Dr. Powers was on faculty in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He currently holds academic positions as a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Professor (affiliate) in the Department of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. Dr. Powers also actively cares for patients and attends on the infectious diseases service at… Read more

Moderator

Patriek Karayil

MAHA Institute

Patriek Karayil is the Director of Government Relations at MAHA Institute and a former White House Innovation Fellow, where he helped design modern solutions for public-sector challenges. With expertise at the intersection of policy, technology, and civic services, he advances initiatives that strengthen transparency, efficiency, and health freedom. Karayil is known for his strategic leadership and his commitment to empowering institutions that serve people, not bureaucracy.

Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D

NIH Director

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya took the helm as 18th director of the National Institutes of Health April 1, 2025. Dr. Bhattacharya is a renowned doctor, researcher, and health economist who previously held a tenured professorship in the medical school at Stanford University in California. His research focused on population aging and chronic disease, particularly on the health and well-being of vulnerable populations. He has published over 170 research papers in peer-reviewed journals in medicine, epidemiology, health policy, economics, statistics, science policy, and public health, as well as a leading textbook on health economics. During the pandemic, Dr. Bhattacharya coauthored the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for opening schools and lifting lockdowns while better protecting older populations who were most vulnerable to the disease. Dr. Bhattacharya is a longtime NIH grantee and has served as a… Read more

Nicole Kleinstreuer, Ph.D

NIH Deputy Director for Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives

Dr. Nicole C. Kleinstreuer is the NIH Deputy Director for Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives. In this role, she leads the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI) within the NIH Office of the Director, which oversees trans-NIH programmatic research and strategic policy initiatives. Dr. Kleinstreuer is internationally recognized for her leadership in developing innovative, human-relevant research strategies that advance public health protection. In prior roles, she led interagency and international efforts to promote new approach methodologies (NAMs), reduce animal testing, and integrate computational modeling, artificial intelligence, and systems toxicology into regulatory science. Her work spans translational bioinformatics, predictive modeling, and quantitative risk assessment. She has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications and received… Read more