RFK, Jr.’s overhauled autism council cancels first public meeting

RFK, Jr.’s overhauled autism council cancels first public meeting

By Allison Parshall edited by Tanya Lewis

The government’s advisory board for autism research has canceled a public meeting scheduled for March 19. This would have been the first public meeting of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), a group that guides federally funded autism research, since Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., completely overhauled the group’s membership in January. He appointed 21 new members, some of whom are vaccine skeptics.

News of the cancellation came on March 7, the same week that a group of autism experts formed an independent group to counter misinformation. This outside group, calling itself the Independent Autism Coordinating Committee (I-ACC), scheduled a meeting on the same day as the federal IACC meeting. The rival group includes several former members of the federal advisory board.

The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the cancellation in another email Scientific American. In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) Monday morning, the agency wrote: “The Intergovernmental Autism Coordinating Committee meeting originally scheduled for March 19 has been postponed. We recognize the importance of the committee’s work and the strong interest of the autism community in this meeting. We are actively working to reschedule and will share additional information as it becomes available.”

On supporting science journalism

If you like this article, please consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribes. By purchasing a subscription, you help secure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas that shape our world today.

The IACC historically meets four times a year to discuss directions for autism research and make recommendations to heads of federal agencies that study autism or provide services to autistic people. It has not met since President Trump took office for his second term.

The formation of a competing committee of autism researchers is part of a broader push to fill public health gaps left by agencies under the Trump administration. This includes states forming regional health alliances and medical organizations making recommendations on vaccine schedules.

Helen Tager-Flusberg, an autism researcher who served on the federal advisory committee from 2019 to 2025, is now a member of the 12-person independent group. In a statement sent to Scientific American, she said the new group “will become an important tool to forcefully respond to the damage initiated by the Secretary of HHS to the future of autism science by appointing a committee filled with people who reject decades of evidence about the causes of autism.”

It’s time to stand up for science

If you liked this article, I would like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in its two-century history.

I have been one Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I see the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does for you too.

If you subscribe to Scientific Americanyou help ensure our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten laboratories across the United States; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself is too often not recognised.

In return, you receive important news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-see videos, challenging games, and the world of science’s best writing and reporting. You can even give someone a subscription.

There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science is important. I hope you will support us in that mission.