Clinicians and researchers who study and treat autism say the overhaul of the federal advisory Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) could end up delaying new discoveries and diverting dollars to unproven, harmful therapies. 

The IACC, comprised of federal officials and public stakeholders, advises the federal government on strategic planning and coordination of autism-related research, services, and support, covering some $2 billion in annual spending. 

US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr announced the appointment of 21 new IACC members on January 28. The panelists were selected to reflect that “President Trump directed us to bring autism research into the 21st century,” Kennedy said.

None of the previous members whose terms had ended were re-appointed. 

“The newly constituted IACC represents a complete and unprecedented overhaul, with no continuity from prior committees and a striking absence of scientific expertise,” Autism Science Foundation President Alison Singer, who served three terms as an IACC public member, said in a statement. 

The members were “cherry-picked to reach a predetermined conclusion, not to seek broad, good-faith input from qualified experts and stakeholders,” Singer added. 

Cause for Concern 

The selection of a number of individuals with a history of promoting debunked theories on autism also is cause for concern, said Helen Tager-Flusberg, PhD, director of Boston University’s Center for Autism Research Excellence and head of the Coalition of Autism Scientists. 

“Not one is a leader in the field — of either mainstream advocacy, basic science, or clinical research,” Tager-Flusberg told Medscape Medical News. 

Kennedy has a long history of promoting disproven theories on the causes of autism. In an April 2025 press briefing, he blamed “an environmental toxin” for rising autism prevalence rates. Autism experts dismissed that claim, saying the increase is due to broader diagnostic criteria, increased screening, greater awareness among parents and pediatricians, reduced stigma, and improved access to specialized services. 

In September, Kennedy and President Donald Trump stated in another briefing that acetaminophen taken during pregnancy was a cause of autism. That assertion was also widely disputed by experts who say the causes of autism are complex and remain largely unclear, but that genetic, environmental, and other factors likely influence risk. 

The HHS Secretary has also long suggested that vaccines are linked to autism — despite decades of research proving otherwise. Many of the newly appointed IACC panelists echo that position. 

The X profile of new panel member Ginger Taylor, for instance, reads, “240 papers linking vaccines and autism,” and includes a link to a website promoting that idea. 

Newly-appointed IACC member Walter Zahorodny, PhD, who directs the New Jersey Autism Study, appeared with Kennedy at the April briefing and agreed that better diagnosis was not the reason for rising autism rates. 

Toby Rogers, PhD, a fellow at the Brownstone Institute and new IACC member, has also blamed toxins for autism and was the author of a paper on autism prevalence that the publisher later retracted, citing flawed methods and lack of transparency about conflicts. 

No Balance, Potential Harm 

Some researchers and scientists said the new IACC panel lacks a broad range of opinion and expertise. 

“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,” David G. Amaral, PhD, director of the MIND Institute, University of California, Davis, told Medscape Medical News. 

“The announced IACC committee does not reflect this same balance,” said Amaral, who is also a distinguished professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at UC Davis and director of Autism BrainNet. 

Given the lack of balance, experts said it is unclear if new committee members will continue on the same course as previous IACC panels.

Tager-Flusberg said she fears that the IACC move is a first step toward shifting research toward studies that lack scientific rigor and scientifically disproven approaches that “do not improve lives or functioning of people with autism,” she said. 

Tager-Flusberg, Amaral, and Mandell reported that they receive grants from the National Institutes of Health. Amaral disclosed that until December 2025, he received honoraria from Wiley Publishers as Editor-in-Chief of Autism Research. He also received honoraria for providing keynote lectures at the Asia Pacific Autism Conference in 2025.

Alicia Ault is a Saint Petersburg, Florida-based freelance journalist whose work has appeared in many health and science publications, including Smithsonian.com. You can find her on X @aliciaault and on Bluesky @aliciaault.bsky.social.