Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who has faced restrictions on social media platforms because of his views, was a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates.

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said he intended to nominate Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford University professor known for his criticism of Covid lockdowns, to serve as the next director of the National Institutes of Health.

The physician and economist was the face of the Great Barrington Declaration, which opposed widespread lockdowns.

On Tuesday night, Trump nominated Dr. Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health, tapping an opponent of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates to lead the nation's top medical research agency.