National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya launched a new bi-monthly “Scientific Freedom Lecture” series with a case claiming that COVID-19 originated in a lab incident in China, saying that understanding the cause of the pandemic is essential to the future of societal trust in science and public health.

Bhattacharya, who rose to public prominence by being critical of government policy during the pandemic, made the case at the start of the inaugural lecture on Friday that getting to the heart of what caused the pandemic is essential for rebuilding public trust in scientists.