On April 15, 2024, the James Madison Program hosted Jay Bhattacharya, Professor of Health Policy at Stanford University, for a lecture titled, "The End of Free Speech is the End of Science." This event was the annual Harold T. Shapiro Lecture on Ethics, Science, and Technology. In this talk, Professor Bhattacharya will present early scientific work regarding the mortality risk of COVID infection and the harms of lockdown policies adopted to suppress COVID disease spread. He will then present evidence that top American scientific bureaucrats worked to suppress widespread knowledge of the scientific and policy debates taking place among experts that often contradicted official public health pronouncements about COVID science and policy. Jay Bhattacharya is a Professor of Health Policy at Stanford University and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economics Research. He directs Stanford’s Center for Demography and Economics of Health and Aging. Dr. Bhattacharya’s research focuses on the health and well-being of vulnerable populations, with a particular emphasis on the role of government programs, biomedical innovation, and economics. Dr. Bhattacharya’s recent research focuses on the epidemiology of COVID-19 as well as an evaluation of policy responses to the epidemic. His broader research interests encompass the implications of population aging for future population health and medical spending in developed countries, the measurement of physician performance tied to physician payment by insurers, and the role played by biomedical innovation on health. He has published 135 articles in top peer-reviewed scientific journals in medicine, economics, health policy, epidemiology, statistics, law, and public health among other fields. He holds an MD and PhD in economics, both earned at Stanford University. Contributions to and/or sponsorship of any event does not constitute departmental or institutional endorsement of the specific program, speakers or views presented.