An influential federal committee that advises the health secretary on all things autism and shapes federally funded autism research and support services held an orientation Thursday for new nonfederal members, according to two sources familiar with the meeting.
It was the first gathering of the next iteration of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), which recently added multiple members who align with health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claim that childhood vaccines can cause autism — decades of scientific research has yet to find any conclusive evidence for such a link. Thursday’s orientation happened before the Department of Health and Human Services has made any formal announcements about the new members of the committee, and neither the committee’s website nor the Federal Register has published any advance information about a gathering of the committee members.
