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HHS Moves Kulldorff to ASPE Chief Science Officer as Milhoan Takes Over ACIP

The reconstituted vaccine panel meets this week to consider changes to the pediatric schedule, including the hepatitis B birth dose.

FILE - Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a news conference on the Autism report by the CDC at the Hubert Humphrey Building Auditorium in Washington, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)
Kirk Milhoan during a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices at the CDC in Chamblee, G.A., on Sept. 18, 2025.
FILE - Dr. Martin Kulldorf speaks during a meeting of the Advisory Committee in Immunization Practices at the CDC, June 25, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)
© Elijah Nouvelage via Getty Images

Overview

  • Health and Human Services appointed Martin Kulldorff as chief science officer for its Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, which the department describes as its in-house think tank.
  • Kulldorff will no longer serve on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and pediatric cardiologist Kirk Milhoan is set to chair the committee starting with this week’s meeting.
  • ACIP is scheduled to review the childhood immunization schedule and is expected to revisit the federal recommendation for hepatitis B vaccination at birth.
  • Under Kulldorff’s tenure, ACIP recommended removing thimerosal from certain flu vaccines, restricted use of the combined measles–mumps–rubella–varicella shot, and shifted COVID-19 vaccination to a shared clinical decision-making approach.
  • Recent ACIP meetings drew criticism for procedural lapses and for bypassing the Evidence to Recommendations framework, with the current roster now at 11 members and many described as critical of vaccines.