Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has been named interim director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).[1][2][3] He will become the agency's third leader since the summer, following the departure of previous interim director Jim O'Neill from HHS.[1][2][6] Bhattacharya will also continue to lead the $50 billion NIH, with the CDC facing job cuts under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.[2][3] O'Neill, who does not have a medical or scientific background, is to be nominated as director of the National Science Foundation (NSF).[2][3] Bhattacharya is a physician and health economist from Stanford, known for criticizing lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic and co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration.[2][3][7] Under his leadership, the NIH focuses on chronic disease, transparency, and research modernization.[3] The CDC has undergone turbulent changes in senior leadership, including the dismissal of Susan Monarez and adjustments to vaccination recommendations.[2][3][7]