President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, on Wednesday fielded a wide swath of questions from senators that largely revolved around how he plans to restore public trust in the nation’s premier biomedical research agency. 

Bhattacharya, a physician and health economist from Stanford University, gained a public profile during the COVID-19 pandemic for his criticism of government restrictions and vaccine mandates.