RFK Jr. appoints former ACIP chairman Martin Kulldorff to senior HHS post

The Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday that former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices chairman Martin Kulldorff has been appointed to a senior role in the department. 

Kulldorff was one of the first eight members Kennedy appointed to the advisory panel in June, after he accused the former members of holding "persistent conflicts of interest" that made it "little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine."

The department said Kulldorff, who is an epidemiologist who previously worked at Harvard Medical School, will be the chief science officer for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE). 

“Martin Kulldorff transformed ACIP from a rubber stamp into a committee that delivers gold-standard science for the American people,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in a statement. “I’m glad to welcome him to my team to help develop bold, evidence-based policies to Make America Healthy Again.”

ASPE is an in-house HHS think-tank that often provides policy advice to Kennedy.

“It’s an honor to join the team of distinguished scientists that Secretary Kennedy has assembled,” Kulldorff said. “I look forward to contributing to the science-based public health policies that will Make America Healthy Again.”

Pediatric cardiologist and former Air Force flight surgeon Kirk Milhoan will replace Kulldorff as chair of ACIP.  The vaccine advisory panel's next meeting is scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Atlanta, Georgia.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.