In this episode of The Director’s Desk, NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya hosts a roundtable with the primary authors of the new HHS peer-reviewed report, “Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices.”

This comprehensive federal review evaluates the scientific evidence behind current pediatric gender dysphoria treatments—including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical interventions—and concludes that these approaches carry significant and long-term risks for children and adolescents.

Featured Authors & Contributors:
• Evgenia Abbruzzese – Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine
• Alex Byre, PhD – Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Farr Curlin, MD – Duke University
• Moti Gorin, PhD, MBE – Colorado State University
• Kristopher Kaliebe, MD, DFAACAP – University of South Florida
• Michael K. Laidlaw, MD – Michael K. Laidlaw MD, Inc.
• Kathleen McDeavitt, MD – Baylor College of Medicine
• Leor Sapir, PhD – Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
• Yuan Zhang, PhD – Evidence Bridge
• Additional contributors to the HHS evidence review and peer-review process

Together, they discuss the report’s major findings, the strength and limitations of the existing evidence base, long-term clinical outcomes, and the implications for research, clinical practice, and public health policy.

To learn more or read the full HHS report, visit HHS.gov.

Unlock the science behind how taste, smell, and the brain shape our health. In this episode of The Director’s Desk, NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya sits down with Dr. Paule Joseph—Lasker Clinical Research Scholar, Tenure-Track Investigator, and Chief of the Section of Sensory Science and Metabolism (SenSMet) at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

Dr. Joseph shares her career journey and groundbreaking research on chemosensation, metabolism, and ingestive behavior. Her team studies how the brain interprets taste, smell, and chemesthetic signals—and how these pathways change in conditions like obesity, alcohol use disorder, and substance use disorders. She also discusses her clinical-translational work, innovative psychophysical methods, fMRI imaging, rodent models, and SenSMet’s research on COVID-19–related smell and taste loss.

If you’re interested in neuroscience, metabolic health, sensory science, translational research, or the future of precision health, this conversation is for you.

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In this episode of The Director’s Desk, NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya speaks with Dr. Jeffery Taubenberger, Acting Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). They discuss Dr. Taubenberger’s remarkable career path and the groundbreaking research NIAID is leading to prevent, diagnose, and treat infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.From developing vaccines and life-saving treatments to advancing the science of immune system function, NIAID’s work is shaping the future of global health. This conversation offers an inside look at how cutting-edge research is helping to protect communities in the U.S. and around the world from some of the most pressing health threats of our time.