Martin Kulldorff, PhD, is leaving his position as chairman of the CDC’s influential vaccine advisory committee for a new role as chief scientific officer for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, HHS said in a Dec. 1 statement.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hand-selected Dr. Kulldorff to chair the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices earlier this year after overhauling the body and appointing a roster of new members, many with a history of anti-vaccine rhetoric. During his time leading the committee, the CDC voted to recommend the COVID vaccine based on shared-decision making, marking a shift away from recommendations in past years that all individuals 6 months and older receive the vaccine.
In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Kulldorff co-authored the “Great Barrington Declaration” with Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, who currently serves as National Institutes of Health director. It called for federal officials to rescind lockdown policies in favor of less-stringent prevention measures. Dr. Kulldorff said he was fired from Harvard Medical School in 2024 for refusing to get a COVID shot.
The HHS office he will head serves as an “in-house think tank” that advises the secretary on policy and coordinates research, the agency said in a news release.
“Martin Kulldorff transformed ACIP from a rubber stamp into a committee that delivers gold-standard science for the American people,” Mr. Kennedy 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.”
Kirk Milhoan, MD, PhD, a pediatric cardiologist and former U.S. Air Force flight surgeon will succeed Dr. Kulldorff as ACIP chair. He is a senior fellow for the Independent Medical Alliance — an organization that had advised against mRNA vaccination in children and pregnant women and has promoted the use of unproven therapies including ivermectin to treat COVID.
Robert Malone, MD, will serve as vice chair. He appeared on conservative podcasts and news outlets during the pandemic, promoting unproven and alternative treatments for COVID, according to the Associated Press.
The appointments come ahead of an ACIP meeting Dec. 4-5, where members are expected to vote on changes to the childhood vaccination schedule and timing of the hepatitis B shot.
