National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya underscored the need to restore trust in the nation’s health industry, specifically after the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that ensued.

Bhattacharya, who was just confirmed as the new NIH director, detailed how the nation’s health departments “really failed” during the pandemic at the start of the 2020s due to failing to adhere to “gold standard science.” As such, Bhattacharya argued, the way to win public trust back in these departments is by returning to this standard and using it to address the current health crises facing the nation.