RFK Jr. is HHS Secretary: Science, brace yourself.

My promise to stand up for science and health—and how you can join in the fight against disinformation that harms all of us.

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It’s official. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., one of the most vocal anti-science activists of our time, is now the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

In a vote with party lines, RFK Jr was confirmed, 52-48 to be the next head of HHS. The only Republican who broke ranks was Mitch McConnell, which, was a bit of a surprise. I believe his personal experience with polio may have been the decision-maker.

The same person who has spent years undermining vaccines, farming, food safety, agriculture technology, public health institutions, and biomedical science is now in charge of the agency that oversees them.

For those of us who work in biomedical science, medicine, public health, and science communication, we saw this catastrophe coming. And yet, here we are.

I’m not going to rehash the things he could do while in control of HHS or his long and lucrative history of profiteering off anti-science rhetoric, or the fact he still have financial interests in undermining the HPV vaccines.

I’ve written about all those topics, so you can find them catalogued under RFK Jr, here:

RFK Jr tagged newsletters

and below, some selected ones that are most relevant:

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If you’re feeling numb, angry, paralyzed, or scared, those are valid feelings. Feel them, for sure. I am currently at a work meeting (for my real job) and my colleagues and I have been having whispered conversations about what’s to come.

But while you feel those feelings and preparing for what’s to come, there are things we can do to counteract the inevitable harm he will cause.

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I will not sit back and let decades of biomedical progress be erased.

Here’s my promise to you, our country, and humanity:

• I will keep calling out misinformation. I will continue to write about anti-science rhetoric, disinformation, misrepresentation of basic science concepts, and the policies and harms that will result from these being legitimized and adopted by not only the wellness industry but our Federal government through RFK Jr’s agenda.

• I will be tracking science. Just like AAP’s adoption of anti-science nutrition policy, California’s performative bans on food dyes, gutting funding for food safety oversight, the US withdrawal from the WHO—I will continue to keep you all updated on policy changes, funding reallocation, and how these impact our health and public health.

• I’ll keep fighting for evidence-based medicine. In my real job in life sciences, through this newsletter, other writing, public speaking—I will never let pseudoscience and anti-science rhetoric go unchallenged. While these individuals care more about power, money, and influence than our health and safety, I am the antithesis of that. This is a fight for scientific integrity, public health, the future of science-based medicine, and objective reality. None of us have the luxury of giving up, especially those of us who possess empathy.

Science isn’t going anywhere. Neither am I.

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The reality we are faced with is dangerous. An RFK Jr-led HHS could destroy public health.

RFK Jr.’s entire career has been about profiting off anti-science disinformation. I won’t rehash it all again as you can just click the links here, but his profiteering goes well beyond vaccines. It includes lies about foods and farming and public health interventions and consumer products.

As Secretary of HHS, he can erode and erase critical features of our science and health guardrails, including:

• Vaccine recommendations

• Delaying FDA approvals of medicines, funding for food safety, and more

• Cut Federal vaccine funding for low income children

• Lying to the public as official Federal communication

• Legitimizing wellness pseudoscience or loosening barriers to approval of unproven “treatments”

• Weaken food safety, erode food security, and make healthy foods less accessible

I’ll give you one guess what will happen as a result. We will be sicker, poorer, less equipped to handle infectious and chronic diseases, and will have a collective leadership committed to erode trust in scientific evidence and medical guidance.

H5N1 is spreading among wild and domestic animals (and to some people), measles outbreaks are rising, influenza cases are phenomenally high, Kansas has one of the biggest TB outbreaks in decades, more people than ever are being hospitalized with organ damage from unregulated supplements. This is not hyperbole.

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I actually outlined details when he was first nominated, so please read this for more:

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Anna Merlan of Mother Jones wrote about the possible consequences in this fantastic article, which I was honored to contribute to along with Tim Caulfield and Peter Hotez.

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What can you do to help combat this public health crisis?

Remember: this battle for science and objective reality is a marathon, not a sprint.

Take time to feel all the things you’re feeling—I sure will. But then join the ranks to help fight for this society that I know we care deeply about. Not only will it help, but it will also give you some control in a situation you likely also feel helpless in (trust me, I feel the same—like I’ve been screaming into the void for 20 years).

The wellness industry, anti-science activist groups, RFK Jr., and his allies are hoping that we all give up and give in. We cannot let pseudoscience and harmful disinformation be normalized, even if their profiteers are in our federal government.

Call out misinformation where you see it. Falsehoods spread more quickly than facts because they don’t abide by reality—they are filled with fear-laden statements that trigger knee-jerk reactions. We need to combat that by making those corrections visible.

Share credible sources. Amplify scientists and healthcare professionals who are doing the work media outlets have failed us on—and those who stay within their scope of expertise.

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Good scientists and science communicators need your support

I will never stop calling out lies that substantively harm us, but we need everyone to push back on RFK Jr.’s agenda publicly. We need collective voices. That means, we need your support too.

Follow, amplify, and help fund independent science communicators and journalists who are countering misinformation. (yes, this is a shameless plug to sign up for my free newsletter, but also others)

If you’re subscribed to a media outlet that has been complicit or wishy-washy about RFK Jr., consider halting that subscription and put those funds to somewhere more useful. Donate to science organizations that actually support research and public health, not those that claim to support science but actually erode it. Which leads me to…

Know the anti-science activist groups (and individuals) that continue to contribute to this—across political ideologies

On paper, the groups appear like they “care” about health and science, but in reality, they do the opposite. They are anti-science lobbyists with close ties with RFK Jr., the unregulated wellness industry, and medical conspiracism. They propagate chemophobia, the appeal to nature fallacy, and unfounded fears about science and health to push policies that benefit them. They distort risk assessments, use fear-based messaging, and mislead people about things that are safe and beneficial, which ultimately worsens our health.

A not-comprehensive list include:

• The Environmental Working Group

• The National Resources Defense Council (did you know RFK Jr is one of their lawyers?)

• Consumer Reports

• Greenpeace (they’re the reason children in the Philippines no longer have access to a life-saving food crop, Golden Rice)

• Moms Across America (Zen Honeycutt has spread lies about GE crops and glyphosate for years)

• Center for Food Safety

• Organic Consumers Association

• U.S. Right to Know

• Friends of the Earth

• Food Babe (aka Vani Hari)

• The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)

• Defend Our Health Campaign (formerly Environmental Health Strategy Center)

I’ve written about a few of these already (linked above), but much more to come on how these groups influence policies on both sides of the ideological aisle and cause tangible harm to society and the planet.

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We much acknowledge that science is political, and politics affects all of us.

I get it. It is hard to see how this is all connected if you haven’t been involved in it.

But if you didn’t believe you needed to be involved in politics, I hope this is a wake up call. Elections have consequences.

We need science-literate leaders—they don’t need to be scientific experts, but they need to be ones who don’t let anti-science lobbyists like Moms Across America, the Environmental Working Group, and Food Babe control which policies are adopted (and yes, that goes for Democrats AND Republicans, Gavin Newson and Cory Booker).

Demand accountability from Senators who have decided our health, our lives, and our food security is expendable. If they voted for RFK Jr., ask them why they ignored scientific expertise and decades of evidence. Demand answers. Call, write, show up at town halls. Make sure they know this is unacceptable. Continue to repeat things he will do that will harm people. Make sure they know that this is not the end of that conversation, especially if they do not commit to evidence-based policies.

Bill Cassidy claimed RFK Jr isn’t going to undermine vaccines, his justification for supporting his nomination. Cassidy, an MD, chose to ignore 30 years of evidence, so the second RFK Jr says a single thing that undermines the life-saving benefits of vaccines, call out the hypocrisy.

Susan Collins claims RFK Jr is going to help recoup NIH funding for scientific research. As soon as he undermines robust science for wellness pseudoscience, call out the hypocrisy.

Never let up on this. These elected officials work for us. We need to remind them of that.

Demand better from the media, who has been complicit in sanewashing RFK Jr and distorting his true contributions to anti-science conspiracies. RFK Jr is not a “skeptic” about vaccines and he is not “just asking questions” — he is the creator of medical conspiracies designed to attack evidence-based science and medicine. And he makes MILLIONS OF DOLLARS from it.

Pay attention to the 2026 election cycle. This is only the beginning of the installation of anti-science and anti-intellectualism into our national leadership. If you’re not someone that makes an effort to vote in every election, start making a plan.

Support local public health efforts. Many public health initiatives start at the state level. That means your local elections matter—in many ways, more than Federal ones. Understand how the government functions, learn who allocates budgets, who shapes policies, and get involved. Push for state-level vaccine requirements, promote funding and support for local health departments, and science-based policies.

If every person identifies one action they feel equipped to handle, we can make a lot of impact.

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This appointment shows that our leaders have decided that evidence is optional, and they don’t care about the well-being of our society—or other global communities.

The message is clear: science-based medicine, robust data, and regulatory institutions can be bought by conspiracies if enough people believe the lies.

We are at the precipice of a dark era in US history. But this ripple effect will extend well beyond our country. Just like infectious diseases, disinformation and pseudoscience don’t adhere to borders—and if we don’t stop the viral spread, humanity will be harmed for decades to come.

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Now, more than ever, we all must join in the fight for science.

Thank you for supporting evidence-based science communication. With outbreaks of preventable diseases, refusal of evidence-based medical interventions, propagation of pseudoscience by prominent public “personalities”, it’s needed now more than ever.

More science education, less disinformation.

- Andrea

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ImmunoLogic is written by Dr. Andrea Love, PhD - immunologist and microbiologist. She works full-time in life sciences biotech and has had a lifelong passion for closing the science literacy gap and combating pseudoscience and health misinformation as far back as her childhood. This newsletter and her science communication on her social media pages are born from that passion. Follow on Instagram, Threads, Twitter, and Facebook, or support the newsletter by subscribing below: