HHS appoints 21 new members to federal autism advisory committee

Many of the new members have publicly expressed beliefs in the debunked claim that vaccines can cause autism

Jan. 28, 2026 at 4:23pm

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The Department of Health and Human Services has announced the appointment of 21 new members to the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, a federal committee that advises health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on autism. Many of the new members have publicly expressed or belong to groups that have publicly expressed a belief in the debunked claim that vaccines can cause autism, raising concerns among the autism community.

Why it matters

The newly constituted committee is notably missing representation from longtime mainstream autism research and advocacy organizations, and instead has several members from fringe groups that promote treatments and causes of autism that have fallen out of favor. This is the latest sign that the current administration is reshaping the federal government to reflect its views on autism and vaccines, which could put both autism research and public health at risk.

The details

The Wednesday announcement comes days after STAT reported that members of the committee met in secret and that the autism community was concerned that the new members were mainly allies of the Make American Healthy Again movement. The newly constituted committee is notably missing representation from longtime mainstream autism research and advocacy organizations like Autism Speaks and the Simon's Foundation. Instead, the new committee has several members from fringe groups that promote treatments and causes of autism that have fallen out of favor.

  • The Department of Health and Human Services announced the new appointments on January 28, 2026.

The players

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The current health secretary who has instructed federal health agencies to find the cause of autism so that they can 'end' it, and who has spent much of his first year as secretary branding autism as an 'epidemic'.

David Amaral

A neuroscientist at the University of California, Davis and a former member of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, who said the announced committee does not reflect the same balance as the one he served on.

Zoe Gross

The director of advocacy at the Autism Self-Advocacy Network, who said it's clear that the current administration is twisting the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee into a mouthpiece of misinformation, putting both autism research and public health at risk.

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What they’re saying

“The IACC committee that I served on had an excellent balance of established autism scientists, self advocates, representatives of private autism funding agencies, parent advocacy groups and governmental agencies. The announced IACC committee does not reflect this same balance.”

— David Amaral, Neuroscientist, University of California, Davis

“It's clear that this administration is twisting the IACC into yet another mouthpiece of misinformation, putting both autism research and public health at risk.”

— Zoe Gross, Director of Advocacy, Autism Self-Advocacy Network

What’s next

The newly appointed members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee have yet to be announced, but their views and past work will likely shape the committee's priorities and recommendations to the health secretary in the coming years.

The takeaway

The reshaping of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee to include members who promote discredited theories about the causes of autism raises concerns about the future direction of federal autism research and policy, and the potential impact on both the autism community and public health.