America's Autism Crisis and How AI Can Fix Science with NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya

The a16z Show

a16z

Science, Innovation, Business, Entrepreneurship, Culture, Disruption, Software Eating The World, Technology

4.4 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 September 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is one of the country’s top medical experts and a 24-year professor of medicine at Stanford. After being censored and deplatformed during COVID for his role in opposing harsh lockdowns, he was appointed Director of the National Institutes of Health by President Trump in 2025. a16z General Partners Erik Torenberg, Vineeta Agarwala, and Jorge Conde join Dr. Bhattacharya to discuss the administration’s role in tackling the autism crisis, how to restore public trust in health authorities, how to make the NIH more dynamic and efficient, and how to streamline publishing and restore academic freedom.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The American people are not stupid.
0:02.0	In fact, they're quite smart.
0:04.0	And when we talk to them in ways where we show respect for their intelligence with data,
0:10.0	allow people to disagree, but then have the evidence right there in front of people.
0:14.0	I think people will respond with trust where the evidence actually leads.
0:18.0	We need kind of that Silicon Valley spirit.
0:20.0	We should stop punishing scientists who fail.
0:21.6	If they fail productively, let them publish in a journal
0:23.6	to explain why they're, what they learn from it.
0:26.6	Like that Silicon Valley spirit, I think, needs to come to science a little bit more.
0:30.6	Autism funding, old drugs with new promise, and a reset on American science.
0:35.6	Today, we're joined by Dr. J. Badacharya, director of the NIH with A16Z Health and Bio
0:42.0	General Partners, Vanita Agarwalha and Jorge Condi.
0:45.8	We cover the NIH's new $50 million autism initiative, Lucavoren's potential, and fresh scrutiny
0:52.2	of Tylenol and pregnancy.
0:54.3	We also dig into the replication crisis, bold funding models, rebuilding public trust, and
0:59.5	how AI can transform healthcare from drug discovery to clinical care.
1:04.1	Let's get into it.
1:05.1	We'll talk to about the chart.
1:09.1	Thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
1:10.1	We're stoked to have you.
1:11.5	I'm delighted to be here.
	...

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