Scott W. Atlas, M.D.

Scott is the Robert Wesson Senior Fellow in Health Policy at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.

Dr. Atlas investigates the impact of government and the private sector on access, quality, and pricing in health care, trends in health care innovation, and key economic and civil liberties issues related to health policy.

He has served as senior advisor for health policy to numerous members of the US Congress and candidates for President. From August through November, 2020, he served as a Special Advisor to the President and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

  • Robert Wesson Senior Fellow | Health Policy
  • Hoover Institution
  • Stanford University
  • Senior Scholar & Founding Fellow
  • Academy for Science and Freedom
  • Hillsdale College USA
Scott W. Atlas

More about Scott

Scott W. Atlas, MD is the Robert Wesson Senior Fellow in health policy at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. He investigates the impact of government and the private sector on access, quality, and pricing in health care, trends in health care innovation, and key economic and civil liberties issues related to health policies. He is a frequent policy advisor to policymakers in the United States and other countries. He has served as senior advisor for health policy to several candidates for President, members of the US Congress, and health agencies. From August through November, 2020, he served as Special Advisor to the President and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

Before his policy appointment at Hoover Institution, he was Professor and Chief of Neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center for 14 years and in academic medicine for 25 years. Dr. Atlas is the author of more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications, 200 policy pieces, and numerous books, including “A Plague Upon Our House: My Fight at the Trump White House to Stop COVID from Destroying America” (Post Hill Press), "In Excellent Health: Setting the Record Straight On America’s Health Care" (Hoover Press), and "Restoring Quality Health Care: A Six-Point Plan for Comprehensive Reform at Lower Cost" (Hoover Press). He is also the editor of "Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain and Spine", the leading textbook in the field, now in its 5th edition.

Dr. Atlas has received many awards from leading institutions and societies in recognition of his leadership in policy and medicine, including the 2022 Encounter Prize for Advancing American Ideals, explained as follows: “Standing up to injustice and facing down the madding crowd of conformity requires enormous patience, equilibrium, insight, and courage—the most important virtue, Aristotle observed, because without it none of the other virtues can flourish. The Encounter Prize for Advancing American Ideals pays tribute to individuals who effectively embody this rare combination of virtues in their lives and work;” the 2021 Freedom Leadership Award, Hillsdale College’s highest honor, “in recognition of his dedication to individual freedom and the free society,” the 2021 Conservative Partnership Institute Freedom Fighter of the Year Award, CPI’s highest honor, "bestowed upon an individual for their courage and dedication to truth and liberty" and the 2011 Alumni Achievement Award, the highest career achievement honor for a distinguished alumnus from the University of Illinois in Urbana‐Champaign. In the private sector, Atlas is a frequent advisor to start-up entrepreneurs and companies in life sciences and medical technology. He received his MD degree from the University of Chicago School of Medicine.

Visit his website

Selected Commentary

Sanders’ Medicare-for-All Would Destroy America’s Health Care

Scott W. Atlas

Real Clear Politics

11 July 2023

Stop Ignoring Facts and Fix Health Care for Minorities and the Poor

Scott W. Atlas

Real Clear Politics

12 June 2023

New priorities in U.S. health and science policy: Autonomy and accountability

Washington Times

15 May 2023

Read full article

W.H.O. Do You Trust?

Newsweek

16 March 2023

Read full article

America's COVID Response Was Based on Lies

Newsweek

6 March 2023

Read full article

Sins Against Children: On America’s Moral Compass in the Face of Covid

New Criterion

4 January 2023

Read full article

When Will Academia Account for Its Covid Failures?

Wall Street Journal

29 December 2022

Read full article

Lockdown inutil. E la scienza lo sapeva

La Verita

16 November 2022

Read full article

The Review Interviews Dr. Scott Atlas

Stanford Review

25 October 2022

Read full article

Ethical Principles of Public Health

RT Anderson, SW Atlas, D Bell et al.

Academy for Science & Freedom, Hillsdale College

23 August 2022

Read full article

America Needs a Rebirth of Science

Scott W. Atlas, Jay Bhattacharya, and Martin Kulldorff

National Review

20 December 2021

Read full article

How Panic Spread in the Early Days of COVID-19

Newsweek

18 November 2021

Read full article

The Last Word

Stanford Review

7 March 2021

Read full article

Atlas, Ferguson, and Hanson: On Free Speech at Stanford

Scott Atlas, Niall Ferguson, and Victor Davis Hanson

Stanford Review

23 February 2021

Read full article

Mindless Lockdowns Destroy Lives — And Our Constitution

John Yoo and Scott W. Atlas

New York Post

8 February 2021

Read full article

Science, Politics, and COVID: Will Truth Prevail?

Imprimis

February 2021 (vol. 50, no. 2)

Read full article

A Pandemic of Misinformation

Wall Street Journal

21 December 2020

Read full article

Science says: Colleges should all reopen (with precautions)

New York Post

15 September 2020

Read full article

Science says: ‘Open the schools’

Scott W. Atlas and Paul E. Peterson

The Hill

1 June 2020

Read full article

Relying on Foreign Drugs is Dangerous

Scott W. Atlas and H.R. McMaster

Wall Street Journal

28 April 2020

Read full article

The data is in — stop the panic and end the total isolation

The Hill

22 April 2020

Read full article

Single Payer’s Misleading Statistics

Wall Street Journal

17 December 2018

Read full article

The False Promise of ‘Medicare for All’

Wall Street Journal

12 November 2018

Read full article

Selected Books

A Plague Upon Our House: My Fight at the Trump White House to Stop COVID from Destroying America

Post Hill Press, 2021

Read full

Restoring Quality Health Care: A Six Point Plan For Comprehensive Reform at Lower Cost, 2nd edition

Hoover Institution Press, 2020

Read full

In Excellent Health: Setting the Record Straight on America’s Health Care

Hoover Institution Press, 2012

Read full

Selected Media

Independent Truths with Dr. Scott Atlas

See full

Dr. Scott Atlas: Inside Trump's COVID Task Force; The Highwire with Del Bigtree

26 June 2023

See full

Do Not Let Scientists Rewrite COVID History; UK Telegraph

23 June 2023

See full

Scott Atlas, Medora, North Dakota. COVID, Civil Discourse and the Free Exchange of Ideas

9 June 2023

See full

"Academia, Science, and Public Health: Will an Ethical Society Return?" Stanford Academic Freedom conference

5 November 2022

See full

“The SARS2 Pandemic: Will Truth Prevail?” Hillsdale College Kirby Center, Washington D.C. Campus. The Academy for Science and Freedom

24 January 2022

See full

Dr. Scott W. Atlas, MD – The Liberty Forum

11 January 2022

See full

Dr. Scott Atlas: The Truth About COVID

3 December 2021

See full

Tucker Carlson Today – Scott Atlas

17 November 2021

See full

America’s COVID-19 Debacle: “A Plague Upon Our House” | Scott W. Atlas, M.D.,

9 September 2021

See full