Dr Jay Bhattacharya, the new head of the NIH, triggered the mass walkout at his first townhall meeting for the agency. The scientists were applauded as they walked out of the auditorium.

During a Monday town-hall-style address at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., Bhattacharya told a crowded auditorium that “it’s possible that the pandemic was caused by research ...

Twenty-seven minutes into a town hall with staff last week, US National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya acknowledged that he was going to get into uncomfortable territory.