HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is ramping up a long-time focus on autism that has historically been tied to his stance on vaccines.
Under his leadership, the NIH and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are teaming up in a pilot program to build a real-world data platform based on health information, including medical records, that will “enable” research into the “root causes of autism spectrum disorder,” HHS announced on Wednesday. The project will leverage Medicare and Medicaid data and eventually expand to other chronic conditions. HHS did not respond to a request for comment about how much funding is attached to the program.
The project follows Kennedy’s pledges to determine what causes autism, which impacts 1 in 31 children, according to HHS. He also promised in April that, through an assembly of…