In an ironic turn of events, a Stanford University professor whom Francis Collins, the former head of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), attacked, has been nominated to head that very agency. While the personal aspects of Jay Bhattacharya’s altercation with Collins matter, it’s more important to understand why Bhattacharya was right and Collins was wrong. Bhattacharya—his Senate confirmation hearing is set for March 5—was right because he, trained as both an M.D. and an economist, reasoned through the challenges of COVID-19 as an epidemiologist and an economist. As an epidemiologist, he got three main things right; as an economist two. Collins struck out on all counts.
Here are the three things he had right as an epidemiologist.
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