The Independent Autism Coordinating Committee added seven members to its roster and scheduled its next public meeting for July 23 amid concerns about the federal government’s newly appointed members to a key advisory panel.
The committee coordinates work among nongovernmental autism researchers and aims to develop a coordinated scientific agenda for the autism community, according to a May 12 news release from the committee.
The appointments aim to expand the committee’s scientific expertise and add researchers with lived autism experience as well as private autism research funding.
The I-ACC was established in March and held its first meeting on March 19, when it began developing a strategic plan for autism research focused on areas including genetics, environmental causes, early detection, therapeutics and services. The Autism Science Foundation serves as the committee’s administrative secretariat.
Earlier this year, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. named 21 members to the federal Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee. According to the independent committee, many of those members “propound the false narrative that childhood vaccines cause autism.”
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