A group of autism researchers and advocates with ties to Dr. Paul Offit on Tuesday said they formed their own autism research committee in protest of changes made by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the official government panel of autism advisers.
On Jan. 28, Kennedy appointed 21 new members to the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), a committee that coordinates federal efforts on autism, including policy and government-funded research. Kennedy said in a statement:
“President Trump directed us to bring autism research into the 21st century. … We are doing that by appointing the most qualified experts — leaders with decades of experience studying, researching, and treating autism. These public servants will pursue rigorous science and deliver the answers Americans deserve.”
Former committee members claimed Kennedy’s overhaul of the committee undermined its scientific integrity.
Helen Tager-Flusberg, Ph.D., a member of the new Independent Autism Coordinating Committee, founder of the Coalition of Autism Scientists and a former IACC member, said in a press release that the new group “restores the rigor and coordination needed to accurately assess progress and ensure that evidence-based progress continues to be made.”
The new committee plans to submit annual reports to Congress and issue recommendations on autism research priorities, Medscape reported.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Press Secretary Emily G. Hilliard told The Defender that the new committee doesn’t replace the federal committee appointed by Kennedy, which operates under HHS. She said:
“The federal IACC will continue to fulfill President Trump’s directive to bring autism research to the 21st century and support breakthroughs in autism diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.”