RFK Jr. Picks New USPSTF Members

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has added eight new members to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), an independent body of experts that’s long been under his scrutiny.

New experts added to the roster include cardiologists, a gastroenterologist, a radiologist, someone with expertise in artificial intelligence (AI), and a health insurance expert.

The additions appear to have rounded out the panel to its full capacity of 16 experts.

Roger Klein, MD, JD, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), which provides support and technical assistance to the volunteer group of experts, said in a press release that each new panelist “brings valuable expertise and a unique perspective to the Task Force.”

The new appointees are:

• Seth Corey, MD, MPH, a pediatric hematologist-oncologist at the Cleveland Clinic who was appointed for his “clinical expertise and his deep experience in generating, analyzing, and assessing medical evidence,” according to the press release. Corey will also serve as chair.
• Patrick Hunter, MD, MSc, a pediatrician at Pensacola Pediatrics in Florida who is also a professor at Florida State University in Tallahassee, and a member of the Florida State Board of Medicine.
• Ronald Karlsberg, MD, a cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles.
• Venkatesh Murthy, MD, PhD, a cardiologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor who was selected in part for his experience in assessing medical evidence and his knowledge of AI.
• Stephen Parente, PhD, MPH, of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, an expert in health insurance who served during the first Trump administration. (Parente was featured in MedPage Today‘s healthcare costs video series.)
• Goldie Stands-Over-Bull, MD, a family medicine physician at Texas Native Health in Dallas.
• Louis Wilson, MD, a gastroenterologist with the United Regional Healthcare System in Wichita Falls, Texas.
• Dennis Wulfeck, MD, MBA, DHA, a radiologist with RadPartners MBB Radiology in Jacksonville, Florida.

In May, Kennedy fired the two vice chairs of the USPSTF: John Wong, MD, of Tufts Medical Center in Boston, and Esa Davis, MD, MPH, of the University of Maryland in Baltimore. Both received letters saying they should consider reapplying for membership, which they called “confusing” at the time.

Kennedy has long had the USPSTF in his sights. During a House hearing in April, he told lawmakers he was “reforming” the task force, calling it “lackadaisical and negligent.”

Its previous four meetings had all been cancelled, including its most recent one in July. Kennedy had abruptly cancelled the group’s July 2025 meeting, and its November 2025 and March 2026 meetings didn’t happen, either.

Some have long raised concerns that Kennedy was trying to revamp the USPSTF much the way he did with the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). His actions against ACIP have been blocked in court, but the legal battle continues.

The USPSTF was created in 1984 to evaluate evidence and issue recommendations on over 90 medical topics, including cancer screening. Its recommendations help determine insurance coverage for preventive services under the Affordable Care Act.

Aaron Carroll, MD, MS, president and CEO of AcademyHealth, which has been closely following the USPSTF saga, said in a statement emailed to MedPage Today that the USPSTF “earns its authority from how it works, not from who sits on it.”

“The Task Force needs members, but the credibility of its recommendations depends on a transparent process, rigorous evidence review, and strong scientific support from AHRQ,” Carroll said. “Rebuilding the panel without rebuilding the evidence infrastructure behind it leaves an important question unanswered: Can the Task Force do its job as intended?”