Dr. Jay Bhattacharya

Thanks for having me, Vince. So good to talk to you again. It's been a few years.

Thanks for having me, Vince. So good to talk to you again. It's been a few years.

Thanks for having me, Vince. So good to talk to you again. It's been a few years.

It's absolutely incredible. The team is incredible. I mean, I don't know what it's been like in the past, but I don't think I've ever heard of a more cohesive team of people leading Health and Human Services. We work together on almost everything. We managed to get things done that would take years of bureaucratic infighting to accomplish. We do them overnight.

It's absolutely incredible. The team is incredible. I mean, I don't know what it's been like in the past, but I don't think I've ever heard of a more cohesive team of people leading Health and Human Services. We work together on almost everything. We managed to get things done that would take years of bureaucratic infighting to accomplish. We do them overnight.

It's absolutely incredible. The team is incredible. I mean, I don't know what it's been like in the past, but I don't think I've ever heard of a more cohesive team of people leading Health and Human Services. We work together on almost everything. We managed to get things done that would take years of bureaucratic infighting to accomplish. We do them overnight.

And we're all aligned in the same direction. The focus is how do we improve the health of the American people? It's just amazing, Vince.

And we're all aligned in the same direction. The focus is how do we improve the health of the American people? It's just amazing, Vince.

And we're all aligned in the same direction. The focus is how do we improve the health of the American people? It's just amazing, Vince.

I was. It was interesting. This is October 2020. We wrote this, Vince, and it was the most common sense thing in the history of common sense things like protect the vulnerable and don't disrupt the lives of kids. Don't don't like harm them by keeping them out of school. We had now years of

I was. It was interesting. This is October 2020. We wrote this, Vince, and it was the most common sense thing in the history of common sense things like protect the vulnerable and don't disrupt the lives of kids. Don't don't like harm them by keeping them out of school. We had now years of

I was. It was interesting. This is October 2020. We wrote this, Vince, and it was the most common sense thing in the history of common sense things like protect the vulnerable and don't disrupt the lives of kids. Don't don't like harm them by keeping them out of school. We had now years of

of this opioid epidemic going on hundreds hundreds thousands of people dead as a result of it and it was the lockdowns that accelerated it kids that have been behind in school for two years or uh of learning uh i mean we're gonna we're we're still picking up the pieces i don't think people understood how powerful the agencies the health and human service agencies actually were until the pandemic

of this opioid epidemic going on hundreds hundreds thousands of people dead as a result of it and it was the lockdowns that accelerated it kids that have been behind in school for two years or uh of learning uh i mean we're gonna we're we're still picking up the pieces i don't think people understood how powerful the agencies the health and human service agencies actually were until the pandemic

of this opioid epidemic going on hundreds hundreds thousands of people dead as a result of it and it was the lockdowns that accelerated it kids that have been behind in school for two years or uh of learning uh i mean we're gonna we're we're still picking up the pieces i don't think people understood how powerful the agencies the health and human service agencies actually were until the pandemic

And I mean, I was really concerned through the whole pandemic. I tried my very best to try to sound the alarm bells. It's amazing to me now that I have the chance to be inside and help reform these institutions so that this kind of thing never happens again.

And I mean, I was really concerned through the whole pandemic. I tried my very best to try to sound the alarm bells. It's amazing to me now that I have the chance to be inside and help reform these institutions so that this kind of thing never happens again.

And I mean, I was really concerned through the whole pandemic. I tried my very best to try to sound the alarm bells. It's amazing to me now that I have the chance to be inside and help reform these institutions so that this kind of thing never happens again.

I mean, I'm of two minds in a sense, Vince, because I love the NIH. I mean, it's supported my research for much of my career. And it has a really illustrious track record of advances in basic scientific knowledge that have resulted in better treatments for people. Its mission is absolutely noble, and I completely support it.

I mean, I'm of two minds in a sense, Vince, because I love the NIH. I mean, it's supported my research for much of my career. And it has a really illustrious track record of advances in basic scientific knowledge that have resulted in better treatments for people. Its mission is absolutely noble, and I completely support it.