WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has appointed Yale epidemiologist Harvey Risch to chair the President’s Cancer Panel, elevating a veteran cancer researcher whose pandemic-era commentary on vaccines and unproven COVID-19 treatments drew sharp criticism, Dec. 24, 2025.
The White House advisory panel is meant to assess the nation’s cancer efforts and recommend improvements to the National Cancer Program. The administration framed the selection as a push for faster prevention and early-detection gains, citing Risch’s long publishing record and decades studying cancer risk factors.
Why Harvey Risch’s appointment is drawing scrutiny
Harvey Risch, a physician and epidemiologist, became a prominent voice during the COVID-19 pandemic by arguing for hydroxychloroquine and later promoting ivermectin as a treatment — positions that ran against mainstream public health guidance and clinical evidence. Health officials have repeatedly warned the public not to use ivermectin for COVID-19 because it is not authorized or approved for that purpose and can be dangerous when misused, including with products intended for animals.
More recently, Harvey Risch has suggested a link between mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and aggressive cancers — claims experts have disputed. Critics say placing him atop a federal cancer advisory body risks muddying public messaging and eroding trust at a moment when the administration is signaling major shifts across health agencies.
Supporters counter that Harvey Risch is being chosen for his cancer credentials, not his COVID-era commentary, and argue the panel can help surface overlooked prevention strategies. The administration’s announcement emphasized the panel’s statutory mission and framed the new chair as focused on “root causes” and measurable progress in cancer outcomes.
What the President’s Cancer Panel does next
The President’s Cancer Panel, created in 1971, is tasked with monitoring federal cancer activities and reporting to the president on progress and gaps. The Department of Health and Human Services said Risch will lead that work as the panel coordinates with the National Cancer Institute and other agencies. The panel’s recent reports have focused on prevention, screening, equity and access — areas where recommendations can shape budgets, research priorities and public campaigns.
For details on the appointment, HHS outlined the announcement in a news release, according to HHS, while the panel’s mission and structure are described on the President’s Cancer Panel website. The Washington Post first reported the selection and the debate around it in a story on the appointment and its political stakes, as The Washington Post reported. Federal warnings about ivermectin misuse remain posted by the Food and Drug Administration.
Continuity: the debate around Risch didn’t start here
The controversy around Harvey Risch has been building for years. In 2020, Yale’s public health leadership issued a statement addressing his hydroxychloroquine stance, in a Yale School of Public Health statement. That same year, Risch submitted written testimony to a U.S. Senate committee discussing outpatient COVID-19 treatment, in a Senate hearing document. Yale student journalists also chronicled faculty concerns at the time, as Yale Daily News reported.
Now, with Harvey Risch at the helm of a presidential cancer advisory body, the administration’s challenge will be keeping the panel’s work anchored in mainstream evidence while convincing skeptics that the appointment won’t turn a cancer mission into a proxy fight over pandemic politics.
