John Gaitanis, MD, the new chair of the federal Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, co-founded a telehealth company that provides leucovorin to families of children with autism, MedPage Today reported Sept. 23.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. named Dr. Gaitanis to lead the committee, which helps shape federal autism research priorities. His ties to the company come as leucovorin draws heightened attention as a potential autism treatment, even though the FDA has said the evidence does not support that use.
Here are seven things to know:
1. Dr. Gaitanis replaced Sylvia Fogel, MD, a psychiatrist and instructor at Harvard Medical School who had led the committee since January. “The committee determined that having a federal representative serve as chair will strengthen its focus on implementing the IACC Strategic Plan and coordinating efforts across federal agencies,” an HHS spokesperson said in a statement to Becker’s. Dr. Fogel will remain on the committee as a public member and will help with meeting preparation, tracking priorities and coordinating with members and working groups, the spokesperson said.
2. In August 2026, Dr. Gaitanis was also named director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. He previously served as chief of child neurology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston and director of child neurology at Brown University in Providence, R.I.
3. Dr. Gaitanis co-founded Meadow Biosciences, now called Meadow Health. The company launched in April and described itself as the “first national telehealth platform dedicated to leucovorin care for children with autism.” Meadow Health co-founder and CEO John Slattery said Dr. Gaitanis divested his financial interest in the company before becoming NICHD director. HHS had not responded to MedPage Today‘s request to confirm the divestment as of press time.
4. The two sides disagreed on whether his ties to the company pose a conflict. Dr. Fogel told MedPage that the committee and HHS have rigorous ethics review processes and that she has no concerns about conflicts of interest. Art Caplan, PhD, professor emeritus of medical ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, disagreed. Dr. Caplan said there is no real evidence that leucovorin helps patients with autism and that, even with a divestment, “the connection to that company would be disqualifying.”
5. Leucovorin is a type of folate used with cancer drugs to counteract their toxic effects. It is also known as folinic acid. In early 2025, prescriptions for children with autism rose sharply after widespread media attention. They then rose again after a September 2025 White House briefing promoted unproven claims about the drug, according to an analysis of national EHR data.
6. The American Academy of Pediatrics has said more evidence is needed before pediatricians can broadly recommend the drug, and the Coalition of Autism Scientists has said it does not recommend leucovorin for autism, citing insufficient evidence. Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente and Portland-based Oregon Health & Science University have issued similar guidance and said their physicians will not prescribe the drug for autism until more research on its safety and effectiveness is available.
7. The FDA last year began a process to allow leucovorin to be prescribed for adults and children with cerebral folate deficiency. The label change, approved in March, focused on patients with FOLR1-related cerebral folate transport deficiency, which the FDA described as an ultra-rare hereditary disorder. The agency refrained from approving the medication as a treatment for autism. A senior FDA official said the agency did not have sufficient data to “establish efficacy for autism more broadly,” NBC News reported.
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