Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced 19 new appointments to a key federal autism advisory panel, citing President Donald Trump’s directive to modernize autism research amid rising prevalence rates and renewed debate over potential causes.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced new appointments to the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee on Jan. 28, saying the changes are intended to advance President Donald Trump’s directive to overhaul and modernize federal autism research.
“We are doing that by appointing the most qualified experts—leaders with decades of experience studying, researching, and treating autism,” Kennedy said in a statement. “These public servants will pursue rigorous science and deliver the answers Americans deserve.”
The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee is a federal advisory body responsible for coordinating autism-related efforts across agencies, tracking research developments, and advising the health secretary. Federal law requires the committee to include non-government members, including at least three individuals with autism diagnoses, three parents or legal guardians of individuals with autism, and three representatives from autism-related research, advocacy, or service organizations.
The announcement comes as autism prevalence continues to rise nationally. The most recent federal data estimate autism affects one in 31 children in the United States, up sharply from one in 150 children in 2002.
Among the newly appointed members is Elizabeth Bonker, executive director of Communication 4 ALL. Bonker, who is a nonspeaker with autism and uses typed communication, said she intends to advocate for underserved populations within the autism community.
“I am honored to be asked to serve on the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee with so many clinicians, researchers, and advocates with whom I have had the pleasure to work in the past,” Bonker said in an email to The Epoch Times. “As a nonspeaker with autism who types to communicate, I will focus on research and services for the millions of nonspeakers whose voices are rarely heard.”
Dr. Daniel Rossignol, another new appointee, has conducted research on autism biomarkers and treatments. He told The Epoch Times that his perspective reflects both professional and personal experience.
“As a parent of two children with autism, I also recognize how essential it is that research priorities translate into meaningful improvements in care, services, and long-term outcomes,” Rossignol said. “I look forward to contributing a perspective that bridges evidence, policy, and lived experience.”
Several of the newly named members have publicly expressed views that vaccines may contribute to autism, a position that remains controversial within the medical community. Toby Rogers, a fellow at the Brownstone Institute for Social and Economic Research, wrote in a 2025 blog post that vaccines are among the “immune activation events” he believes can cause autism.
Another appointee, Ginger Taylor, a former therapist, states on her X profile that there are “240 papers linking vaccines and autism,” referencing a website that compiles studies, including a 2013 paper suggesting individuals with underlying mitochondrial defects “may be highly susceptible to mitochondrial specific toxins like the vaccine preservative thimerosal.” Taylor wrote in a blog post that she emphasized her vaccine views when applying for the committee role, saying her appointment signaled seriousness within the Trump administration about addressing autism-related concerns.
Tracy Slepcevic, author of Warrior Mom: A Mother’s Journey In Healing Her Son with Autism, has said publicly that her son is “vaccine-damaged.” Another appointee, Honey Rinicella, executive director of the Medical Academy of Pediatrics and Special Needs, has alleged that her son’s autism was caused or exacerbated by vaccination. Dr. Elizabeth Mumper, also newly appointed, wrote in a 2013 paper that parental reports of autism onset or regression following vaccination were becoming “increasingly difficult to ignore.”
Major medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, continue to state that autism is not caused by vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously held that position as well, but in a 2025 update said, “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.”
Kennedy has repeatedly said that assertions dismissing any vaccine-autism link are not supported by adequate research and has stated that the Trump administration is undertaking new studies on the issue.
The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee last met on Jan. 14, according to its website. No future meetings have yet been scheduled.
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