In this episode of the Huberman Lab podcast, Andrew Huberman interviews Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), about the past, present, and future of publicly funded research in the United States. They discuss the mission of the NIH, the balance between basic and applied research, and concerns about a potential shift away from basic research. They also delve into indirect costs (IDC) associated with NIH grants, drug pricing disparities between the US and other countries, and efforts to bring drug prices down. The conversation covers the replication crisis in science, the importance of supporting young scientists and new ideas, and the need for transparency and open discourse in the scientific community. Finally, they address the COVID-19 pandemic response, including lockdowns, mask mandates, vaccines, and the importance of acknowledging errors made by the scientific community to restore public trust, as well as the vaccine-autism issue.
