The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Thursday eight new members to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).
The USPSTF is made up of 16 volunteer members who are nationally recognized experts in prevention, evidence-based medicine and primary care. Members are appointed by the HHS secretary, and serve staggered four-year terms to ensure all are not appointed by the same administration.
Seth Corey, M.D., will serve as USPSTF’s new chair. Corey is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist with 41 years of experience serving patients. He currently works in the Departments of Pediatrics and Heart, Blood, and Kidney Research at Cleveland Clinic and the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Other new appointees include Patrick Hunter, M.D, a pediatrician at Pensacola Pediatrics and assistant clinical professor at Florida State University; cardiovascular expert Ronald Karlsberg, M.D., a clinical professor of medicine at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; and professor of preventive cardiology Venkatesh Murthy, M.D., Ph.D.
Healthcare finance expert Stephen Parente, Ph.D. was named a member of the health panel along with Goldie Stands-Over-Bull, M.D., lead family medicine physician at Texas Native Health; gastroenterology specialist Louis Wilson, M.D.; and Dennis Wulfeck, M.D., a diagnostic radiologist.
The new appointees join the task force’s eight current members: Alicia Fernandez, M.D.; Ericka Gibson, M.D.; Marie Krousel-Wood, M.D.; Sei Lee, M.D.; Goutham Rao, M.D.; Joel Tsevat, M.D.; Sandra Millon Underwood, Ph.D.; and Sarah Wiehe, M.D.
Kennedy said in a statement prevention is one of the most “powerful tools for confronting chronic disease.”
“The Preventive Services Task Force’s recommendations influence preventive care across America, and Americans deserve recommendations grounded in rigorous, objective science,” Kennedy said. “We are strengthening the Task Force to ensure it asks hard questions, follows the evidence wherever it leads, and maintains the highest standards of scientific integrity.”
The new appointments come nearly four months after Kennedy dismissed vice chairs John Wong, M.D. and Esa Davis, M.D.
Five other members’ terms expired at the start of 2026, and Kennedy did not replace them, and the previous chair, Michael Silverstein, departed the role on his own, STAT reported.
Moreover, the Wall Street Journal reported in July 2025 that Kennedy planned to dismiss all 16 panel members because he viewed them as too “woke,” according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to the publication. The agency also abruptly canceled a scheduled meeting that same month, which prompted concerns regarding potential political interference.
Despite the task force’s arguably tumultuous relationship with the current administration, the Supreme Court upheld its Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage requirements recommendations in a June 2025 ruling.
Braidwood Management, an employer, argued USPSTF recommendations were invalid because membership appointments violated the Appointments Clause. Justices ruled the plaintiff’s argument did not stand given the clear chain of command for appointments.
The USPSTF was established in 1984 to make recommendations to general practice physicians and public health bodies on preventive care. Federal policymakers rely on USPSTF recommendations, including those of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
And insurers must provide cost-free coverage for preventive services that have been recommended by the USPSTF, such as lung and colorectal cancer screenings, behavioral counseling, prevention of maternal depression, childhood vision screenings and adult diabetes screenings.
In a statement, AcademyHealth said the appointment of eight new members to the USPSTF is a positive step after a 17-month hiatus, but said significant concerns remain about the panel's composition, selection process and future direction. Five of the eight new members are specialists, while the panel has historically drawn on people trained in primary care, prevention, and evidence-based medicine, the organization said.
AcademyHealth called for more transparency into how the new members were chosen, vetted and screened for conflicts of interest.
"HHS singled out one new member’s expertise in evaluating the cost and value of health care services. That's a notable thing to highlight, because the Task Force has never included cost in its recommendation grades," the organization said in its statement.
AcademyHealth also argued that the federal evidence infrastructure supporting the panel's work has been weakened. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), which provides the scientific reviews underlying Task Force recommendations, has lost a large share of its staff and cancelled more than 150 research grants, the organization noted.
"Congress and HHS should be asking not just who is on the Task Force, but whether the scientific infrastructure behind it is strong enough to let it do its job independently and rigorously," the organization said.
The American Kidney Fund voiced disappointment that HHS did not appoint a nephrologist, "once again leaving millions of people at risk of kidney disease without a voice on the country's leading panel of national experts that set the standard for preventive healthcare guidelines in the U.S.," the organization said in a statement.
"The absence of kidney expertise on the USPSTF leaves a significant gap in the nation's preventive health decision-making for a condition impacting a majority of Americans," the organization said.