\n Eight new members were named to the USPSTF, including Seth J. Corey, MD, MPH, as chair. Image: Adobe Stock<\/em>
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\n <\/figure>\nThe new appointees, who join eight existing members, include:<\/p>\n
\n- Seth J. Corey,<\/b> MD, MPH,<\/b> a pediatric hematologist-oncologist at Cleveland Clinic who will also serve as USPSTF chair;<\/li>\n
- Patrick K. Hunter, MD, MSc,<\/b> a pediatrician at Pensacola Pediatrics in Pensacola, Florida, assistant clinical professor at Florida State University and a Florida State Board of Medicine member;<\/li>\n
- Ronald P. Karlsberg, MD,<\/b> a clinical professor of medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA;<\/li>\n
- Venkatesh L. Murthy, MD, PhD,<\/b> the Melvyn Rubenfire Professor of Preventive Cardiology at University of Michigan;<\/li>\n
- Stephen T. Parente, PhD,<\/b> a professor of finance at University of Minnesota\u2019s Carlson School of Management;<\/li>\n
- Goldie Stands-Over-Bull, MD,<\/b> lead family medicine physician at Texas Native Health in Dallas Texas;<\/li>\n
- Louis J. Wilson, MD,<\/b> an internist specializing in gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition at United Regional Healthcare System in Wichita Falls, Texas, and medical director at Digestive Health Research of North Texas; and<\/li>\n
- Dennis W. Wulfeck, M<\/b>D<\/b>, MBA, DHA,<\/b> a diagnostic radiologist and president of practice board at RadPartners MBB Radiology in Jacksonville, Florida.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The appointments follow months of turnover and uncertainty among the task force, which has not met since March 2025 and has not issued guidance since July of 2025.<\/p>\n
In May, Kennedy fired<\/a> task force vice chair Esa M. Davis, MD, MPH, FAAFP, and chair John B. Wong, MD, MACP, after the two were told they had been \u201cinappropriately appointed\u201d to their positions.<\/p>\nMembers\u2019 backgrounds raise questions<\/h2>\n
Corey\u2019s appointment as chair is a departure from USPSTF\u2019s traditional process. Wong previously told Healio that, \u201chistorically, all the chairs have already been members of the task force and have completed their 4-year terms as task force members.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corey has shown some support for Kennedy online. On his verified X account, Corey called the health secretary\u2019s recent speech at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, \u201cOne of the most honest, accurate speeches in American history.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the speech, Kennedy said Democrats \u201cforced citizens to wear masks and to submit to invasive and intrusive medical interventions against their own wills\u201d during the COVID-19 pandemic and \u201ccruelly silenced the voice of tens of thousands of mothers who believe that their children have suffered vaccine injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another new member, Hunter, has ties to the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine and the Catholic Medicine Association \u2014 organizations with critical views of gender-affirming care \u2014 and he served on the Florida Board of Medicine when it developed restrictions for gender-affirming care in youth. It is unclear whether a USPSTF member\u2019s views of gender-affirming care would impact future recommendations. The USPSTF has not issued recommendations for or against gender-affirming care in the past, but the task force uses a gender-inclusive process<\/a> when developing guidance. For example, when issuing recommendations, the task force uses gender-neutral language when appropriate and indicates \u201cwhether each given recommendation should be applied based on someone\u2019s sex at birth, current anatomy or gender identity,\u201d according to a 2021 USPSTF press release.<\/p>\nMeanwhile, Parente served as a chief economist for health policy during the first Trump administration and, according to reporting from KFF Health News, still consulted \u201cinformally with Trump health officials\u201d as of 2025. As a professor of finance, Parente specializes in health economics, insurance and information technology. HHS said he was appointed \u201cfor his expertise in evaluating the cost and value of healthcare services,\u201d even though the USPSTF website explicitly states that cost is \u201cnot a factor in determining recommendation grades.\u201d He was also appointed for his knowledge in \u201ctechnologies and their impacts on patients and the delivery of care,\u201d HHS said.<\/p>\n
Reactions from medical societies<\/h2>\n
In a statement, AMA President Willie Underwood, III, MD, MSc, MPH,<\/b> said the task force\u2019s credible work \u201chas been built on a membership grounded in prevention and primary care \u2014 the physicians who routinely deliver preventive services and understand how recommendations translate into clinical practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
The makeup of the new group, he said, \u201crepresents a significant departure from the task force\u2019s traditional membership.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe maintaining a strong primary care voice must remain central to its work. As the USPSTF moves forward, its recommendations must continue to be based on a transparent, rigorous, independent scientific process and informed by the perspective of physicians who deliver preventive care to patients every day,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is essential for ensuring that task force recommendations are trusted by clinicians and followed by patients.\u201d<\/p>\n
The task force currently has 14 draft recommendations that have yet to be finalized. Among them is a recommendation on chronic kidney disease screening. The American Kidney Fund said in a statement that it is disappointed the new task force does not include an expert in this area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout that expertise, we risk continuing a status quo in which preventive guidance lags behind scientific progress, contributing to delayed diagnosis, missed opportunities for intervention and preventable kidney failure,\u201d the organization said.<\/p>\n