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Top influencers in the Make America Healthy Again movement: See the list

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Top influencers in the Make America Healthy Again movement: See the list

“Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) became a rallying cry during the final months of the 2024 presidential election, after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed President Donald Trump and joined his campaign.

A little over a week after Election Day 2024, Trump announced Kennedy as his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 

Under Kennedy’s leadership, the MAHA movement aims to improve nutrition in America, eliminate toxins, preserve natural habitats and fight the chronic disease epidemic, according to its website.

TRUMP AND A HEALTHIER AMERICA WELCOMED BY DOCTORS: ‘NEW GOLDEN AGE’

Read on to learn more about some of the key players behind the MAHA movement.

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Read on to learn more about some of the key players behind the MAHA movement. (Fox News/Getty/AP Photo/Turning Point Action)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a former presidential candidate, son of former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and President Trump’s pick for HHS secretary. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a former presidential candidate and President Donald Trump’s pick for HHS secretary. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

Kennedy has said he aims to make America healthy again through strategies such as focusing on food and nutrition, targeting chronic diseases, changing FDA policies and raising awareness of alternative health treatments. 

‘GOD-INTENDED FOODS’ ARE KEY TO A HEALTHIER AMERICA, EXPERT SAYS

Jessica Reed Kraus 

Jessica Reed Kraus is the author of “House Inhabit,” one of the top culture Substack blogs. 

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The California-based influencer previously described herself as “super liberal,” but her politics shifted during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Woman in confirm RFK hat speaking into a microphone.

Jessica Reed Kraus, author of the “House Inhabit” substack, spoke to Fox News Digital during RFK Jr.’s confirmation hearing. (Fox News Digital)

Kraus worked with both the Trump and RFK Jr. presidential campaigns, and she wrote glowingly about the MAHA Inaugural Ball in her Substack.

Marla Maples

Mother of Tiffany Trump and ex-wife of President Donald Trump, Marla Maples was among the supporters who appeared on Capitol Hill this past Wednesday during the confirmation hearing for HHS secretary nominee RFK Jr. 

Marla Maples

Marla Maples shared support for the MAHA movement and her hopes for a healthier America with Fox News Digital at the RFK Jr. hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 29, on Capitol Hill.  (Fox News Digital)

The Georgia native, also a co-founder of the Global Wellness Forum, shared her excitement for the MAHA movement and her hopes for a healthier America.

MARLA MAPLES ADVOCATES FOR HEALTHIER FOOD CHOICES FOR AMERICANS AMID RFK JR. HEARINGS

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“I have to support America’s health, our children’s health … We suffered [for] so long with what they’re putting in our food supply without having consent on what we’re getting medically,” she told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

Jillian Michaels

Renowned fitness expert Jillian Michaels is based in Miami, Florida. 

As a certified personal trainer and nutrition specialist, she takes a no-nonsense approach to health and wellness. 

Jillian Michaels doing a workout move

In Sept. 2024, Michaels (shown above) appeared in a “Make America Healthy Again” ad with Brigham Buhler. (Donald Kravitz/Getty Images)

In Sept. 2024, Michaels appeared in a “Make America Healthy Again” ad with healthcare entrepreneur Brigham Buhler.

Alex Clark

Alex Clark is the host of the “Culture Apothecary” podcast.

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She speaks with guests who share their own healing remedies for those seeking alternative healthcare methods. 

A contributor to the nonprofit political organization Turning Point USA, the Arizona-based Clark has over 120,000 followers on X and nearly half a million Instagram followers.

Vani Hari (‘Food Babe’)

Known as the “Food Babe,” Vani Hari has been raising alarms about chemicals in food, water and the air for over a decade. 

Vani Hari attends a confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Jr

Vani Hari is a food activist who attended the confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., prospective secretary of Health and Human Services. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Based in North Carolina, the mother of three is the author of several books and the “Food Babe” blog. 

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As a food activist, Hari aims to influence major food giants to adopt healthier policies.

Caitlin Sinclair

Caitlin Sinclair, spokeswoman for the American Values PAC, spoke with Fox News Digital about her personal connection to the MAHA movement.

Woman in pink dress standing next to RFK Jr.

Pictured with RFK Jr., Caitlin Sinclair told Fox News Digital that the “MAHA movement is very personal to me.”  (Turning Point Action)

Sinclair experienced a “dark, seven-year odyssey” of wrongful diagnoses, she shared. 

The MAHA movement is part of a “spiritual awakening” in the U.S. that is key to helping people achieve the American dream, she said.

Calley Means

Calley Means is a New York City-based entrepreneur, author and advocate for healthcare reform, focusing on the intersection of food, policy and chronic disease. 

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calley means

Calley Means is an entrepreneur, author and advocate for healthcare reform, focusing on the intersection of food, policy and chronic disease.  (Fox News Digital)

Means co-founded TrueMed, a company in Washington, D.C., that helps Americans use health savings accounts (HSAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs) for preventative health measures like nutrition and fitness. 

He also co-wrote the book “Good Energy” with his sister, Casey Means, M.D. 

Casey Means, MD

Dr. Casey Means is a Stanford-trained physician and metabolic health expert based in Los Angeles.

dr Casey Means

Casey Means attended the confirmation hearing for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom President Trump has nominated to be secretary of HHS. (Fox News Digital)

Formerly a surgeon, she shifted her focus to preventive medicine, emphasizing the role of diet and lifestyle in combating chronic disease. 

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Means focuses on metabolic health, highlighting the connections between blood sugar, inflammation and long-term wellness. 

She was among the supporters who attended the confirmation hearing for RFK Jr. on Jan. 29, 2025.

Nicole Saphier, MD

Nicole Saphier, M.D., a board-certified radiologist with advanced fellowship training in breast imaging, is a Fox News medical contributor and bestselling author. 

Dr. Nicole Saphier wrote the book "Make America Healthy Again" in 2020, spearheading the MAHA movement.

Dr. Nicole Saphier wrote the book “Make America Healthy Again” in 2020, spearheading the MAHA movement. (Fox News)

The New York City-based doctor also wrote the book “Make America Healthy Again” in 2020, spearheading the MAHA movement. 

Liana Werner-Gray

An Australian who today calls Los Angeles home, Liana Werner-Gray said her life changed dramatically in 2009 at age 21, when she was told she had cancer in her lymphatic system.   

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Blonde woman holding two cookbooks, including "The Earth Diet" and "10-Minute Recipes."

After a cancer diagnosis, Liana Werner-Gray embarked on a “massive detox” by carefully choosing what foods to consume.  (Johnny Nunez/WireImage)

Eschewing traditional medicine, Werner-Gray embarked on a “massive detox” and changed her diet. She is the author of “The Earth Diet” and several other books.

The wellness advocate spoke with Fox News Digital about her personal health journey while attending RFK Jr.’s confirmation hearing.

Courtney Swan

Integrative nutritionist Courtney Swan states that she is “on a mission to change America’s broken food system.”

Courtney Swan

Integrative nutritionist Courtney Swan discussed the Senate confirmation hearings for President Donald Trump’s health secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on “Fox & Friends Weekend.” (Fox News)

Founder of the podcast and food blog Realfoodology, Swan has voiced her support of the MAHA movement and for RFK Jr., describing the prospective HHS head as a “mountain-mover and a nation-shaker.”

“His genuine love for the American people inspires a future brimming with promise and hope for generations to come,” she wrote on Instagram.

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Mehmet Oz, MD

Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, award-winning author and former daytime television host, has been outspoken about the increasing sickness in America, largely caused by unhealthy foods.

Dr. Oz

Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, award-winning author and former daytime television host, has voiced his support of RFK Jr. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

“The current healthcare system in this country is unsustainable,” the Pennsylvania-based doctor told Sean Hannity in November 2024. “We’re six years shorter in our life expectancy than Europeans — they’re very strict about what they put in their bodies, for very good reason.”

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Oz also said that Trump was “wise” in recommending RFK Jr. to lead HHS and the MAHA movement. 

President Trump has selected Oz as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

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Daphne Oz

Daphne Oz is an Emmy-winning TV host, author and wellness advocate known for her expertise in healthy living, nutrition and balanced lifestyle choices. 

She is based in Florida.

Daphne Oz

Daphne Oz has grown her career by focusing on healthy living and nutrition.  (Brad Barket/Getty Images)

As the daughter of Dr. Mehmet Oz, Daphne Oz has built a career emphasizing the importance of nourishing foods, mindful indulgence and wellness. 

    

She was recently spotted at the MAHA inaugural ball held in celebration of RFK Jr. on Jan. 20. 

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C.D.C. Study Finds Silent Bird Flu Infections in Dairy Veterinarians

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C.D.C. Study Finds Silent Bird Flu Infections in Dairy Veterinarians

Three dairy veterinarians, including one who worked only in states with no known bird flu outbreaks in cows, had recent, undetected bird flu infections, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The results are based on antibody testing of 150 veterinarians working in 46 U.S. states.

The findings were not entirely surprising, experts said, but did suggest that the virus, known as H5N1, could be infecting cows and people in more states than have been officially reported.

“We do not know the extent of this outbreak in the U.S.,” said Seema Lakdawala, a virologist at Emory University. “There are clearly infections happening that we’re missing.”

Since the bird flu outbreak in dairy cows was first reported last March, the virus has been confirmed in more than 950 herds in 16 states. It has also been detected in 68 people, 41 of whom had contact with sick cows. Most people have had mild symptoms.

The new study, which was published in the C.D.C.’s flagship Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, was initially slated for publication several weeks ago but was delayed by the Trump administration’s pause on public communications from health and science agencies.

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“It’s important for public health preparedness that we have this data,” said Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, the director of the Boston University Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

The study was conducted at a veterinary conference last September; participating vets practiced in 46 different states, as well as in Canada. Of the 150 veterinarians enrolled in the study, 25 of them reported having worked with cows who were either known to have or suspected of having bird flu.

Three of the vets tested positive for antibodies to the virus. None of those three vets had reported working with cows believed to have bird flu. (One had worked with infected poultry.) None recalled any flulike symptoms.

One of the vets worked with cows only in Georgia and South Carolina, states that had not reported any affected herds.

“I think we’ve all suspected that there are many more states, potentially, where the virus is that are not being detected,” Dr. Bhadelia said.

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Dr. Lakdawala said that she was surprised that none of the 25 veterinarians who knew that they had worked with infected cows had tested positive for antibodies. But it’s possible that those who knew they were working with infected animals “were taking more precautions,” she said.

None of the three vets who tested positive for antibodies reported wearing masks or goggles. Such precautions are not recommended when working with healthy animals in unaffected regions, the study notes.

Precisely how veterinarians are being infected remains unclear, and vets may have less contact with virus-laden milk than the farm workers who spend their days in milking parlors, Dr. Lakdawala said.

“The vets that we’ve talked to on these farms are involved in all aspects of care for these animals,” she said. “They’re all over these cows, looking at everything.”

The findings highlighted the need for far more testing, experts said, including testing of asymptomatic dairy workers and bovine vets, as well as expanded testing of the nation’s milk supply.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a national program to test bulk samples of milk in December. As of Feb. 7, 40 states were enrolled and actively conducting testing. In Nevada, the bulk testing of milk recently revealed that dairy herds had been infected with a new version of the virus, distinct from the one that had been spreading in dairy cows over the past year.

“The states that haven’t onboarded bulk milk testing should do that, just not assume that because they haven’t had infected herds reported that they have a little bit of leeway,” Dr. Bhadelia said.

When the study was conducted last fall, the virus had been detected in dairy herds in 14 states, as well as in 14 people, four of whom had contact with dairy cows.

Apoorva Mandavilli contributed reporting.

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‘I'm a cancer survivor – here's what I've cut from my kitchen’

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‘I'm a cancer survivor – here's what I've cut from my kitchen’

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The threat of cancer looms large for many people, yet consumers can take certain smart and preventative steps to lower the risks. 

Michelle Patidar, an integrative nutrition and cancer recovery coach in Chicago, recently shared in an Instagram post that she’s continuing her own fight against cancer even after surviving it — and the specific steps she’s taken since then.

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In a recent video she posted on social media, Patidar shared a list of “things you will never find in my kitchen after being diagnosed with cancer at 32.”

EVERYTHING TO KNOW ABOUT MAHA

The recovery coach said that after she finished her cancer treatments, she did a “total kitchen overhaul.”

She wrote, “But don’t get me wrong, I slowly made changes. As things ran out, I replaced them with non-toxic versions.” 

Michelle Patidar (pictured above) has replaced ultra-processed foods with more whole foods — and made other changes in her kitchen and home as well. (Michelle Patidar; iStock)

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“It took some time, but I feel so much more in control of my health knowing I eliminated harmful, toxic products from my kitchen!”

THE CANCER PREVENTION DIET: 6 SMARTS TIPS FROM A NUTRITIONIST ON WHAT TO EAT AND WHY

Here’s the full list of items that Patidar said she’s eliminated — and her replacements for them.

Items gone from her kitchen — and their replacements

1. Refined oil is replaced with extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, ghee and grass-fed butter. 

2. Nonstick cookware is replaced with stainless steel and cast-iron cookware.

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3. Aluminum foil is replaced with non-bleached parchment paper. 

4. Plastic containers and sandwich bags are replaced with glass containers and paper bags. 

Frying eggs in a Pan

The cancer survivor avoids nonstick cookware, instead opting for stainless steel and cast-iron options. (iStock)

Patidar considered this one an “easy swap,” by the way, saying she tries to “say no to plastics as often as possible.”

5. Scented candles are replaced with “delicious” essential oils.

FOODS TO EAT, AND NOT TO EAT, TO PREVENT CANCER, ACCORDING TO A DOCTOR AND NUTRITIONIST

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6. Plastic water bottles are replaced with glass and stainless steel.

7. Plastic cutting boards are replaced with wood cutting boards. 

DISEASE STARTS ON YOUR PLATE, CARDIOLOGIST SAYS — HERE’S WHAT TO CHANGE

8. Ultra-processed foods are replaced with whole foods and snacks “without added sugars, food dyes and harmful preservatives.”

9. Toxic kitchen cleaning supplies are replaced with non-toxic cleaning products. 

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“And wow, what a difference it’s made,” she said.

woman organizing a drawer with kitchen utensils

“I try to say NO to plastics as often as possible,” said the cancer survivor. (iStock)

Patidar told Fox News Digital she’s “come to understand the importance of viewing health from a holistic perspective” as a seven-year cancer survivor. 

“While nutrition and exercise are vital components, it’s crucial to consider other factors, such as our environment and the products we use daily,” she said.

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“Our choices, including the cleaning products we use, the quality of indoor air and water, and the types of cookware we select play a significant role in our overall well-being.”

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She added that “even seemingly innocuous items” such as plastic water bottles and storage containers can “contribute to our broader health picture.”

michelle patidar instagram post screenshot

Patidar posted her video on Instagram in Oct. 2024. “It’s important to note that even a single swap from this list,” she said, “can enhance your overall health and is a step toward better cancer prevention.” (Instagram/@revival.health.wellness)

She said she believes that making these changes, “along with switching to safer cookware, has decreased my exposure to harmful chemicals and plastic particles.”

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Focusing on “quality fats and oils” instead of processed foods has allowed Patidar to lower chronic inflammation, she reported — “crucial for cancer prevention and recovery.”

“Additionally, replacing candles with essential oils has improved my indoor air quality,” she said. “The ‘convenience’ of toxic products often carries a substantial penalty.”

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“It’s important to note that even a single swap from this list can enhance your overall health and is a step toward better cancer prevention.”

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Behind R.F.K. Jr.’s Vow to ‘Follow the Science’ on Vaccines

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Behind R.F.K. Jr.’s Vow to ‘Follow the Science’ on Vaccines

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent the first day of his back-to-back confirmation hearings deftly avoiding questions about his views on vaccines. On the second day, when a prominent Republican senator insisted there was no link between vaccines and autism, Mr. Kennedy shot back that a new study “showed the opposite.”

“I just want to follow the science,” Mr. Kennedy declared.

Following the science has been a familiar refrain for Mr. Kennedy, whose confirmation as health secretary appears all but assured in a vote expected Thursday. But the exchange in the Senate raises questions about just what type of science Mr. Kennedy is consulting. It foreshadows how, if confirmed, Mr. Kennedy could continue to sow doubts about vaccines.

Academics have pounced on the study that Mr. Kennedy cited during the hearing, shredding it as methodologically faulty and biased. The study emanated from a network of vaccine skeptics who share some of Mr. Kennedy’s views — an ecosystem that includes the author of the study, the editor of the journal that published it and the advocacy group that financed it.

“We authors were delighted and honored that R.F.K. Jr. referred to our work in his confirmation hearing,” the study’s lead author, Anthony Mawson, said in an email. A spokeswoman for Mr. Kennedy did not respond to a request for comment.

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Dr. Mawson, an epidemiologist, said he first met Mr. Kennedy at an autism conference in 2017. Mr. Kennedy cites Dr. Mawson’s research 33 times in his 2023 book, “Vax-Unvax: Let the Science Speak.”

His study was rejected “without explanation” by several mainstream medical journals, Dr. Mawson said. So he turned for advice to Andrew Wakefield, the author of the 1998 study, now retracted, that sparked the initial furor over vaccines and autism. Mr. Wakefield encouraged him to submit the study to a new journal called Science, Public Health Policy and the Law.

That publication is led by some notable vaccine critics, including three who headlined a Washington rally in 2022 with Mr. Kennedy to protest Covid vaccine mandates.

As the nation’s health secretary, Mr. Kennedy “would have wide powers to advance his favored research studies, publications, or scientific data,” according to Lawrence O. Gostin, a public health law expert at Georgetown University. Mr. Kennedy’s critics fear that the public will have neither the time nor the training to sort through a war that seems to pit one study against another, and that the result will be a rapid decline in confidence in vaccines.

“The Mawson paper epitomizes Kennedy’s consistent inability to distinguish junk science from reliable information,” said Dr. John P. Moore, professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College, who said that study and some of the others Mr. Kennedy has cited in the past are published by “fringe journals.”

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Mr. Kennedy has said that he is not anti-vaccine, but rather in favor of vaccine safety.

“I support the measles vaccine. I support the polio vaccine,” Mr. Kennedy said on the first day of his confirmation hearings. “I will do nothing as H.H.S. secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking it.”

Mr. Kennedy’s insistence that more research is necessary when it comes to vaccine safety has drawn support from some Republicans, who say they welcome his skepticism.

“I don’t understand why my colleagues all of sudden say we can’t question science,” Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma, said during one of Mr. Kennedy’s hearings. He added, “When you start looking at the rise of autism, why wouldn’t we be looking at everything?”

But Michael T. Osterholm, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota who has advised administrations of both parties, said Mr. Kennedy’s demands for additional data go too far when they concern vaccines and autism. Mainstream scientists say the issue is settled.

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“That’s the equivalent of me saying until Newton comes back and shows me that apple falling from the tree, I do not believe gravity exists,” Dr. Osterholm said.

Doctors who have examined the way Mr. Kennedy uses scientific research say he also has a tendency to cherry-pick particular findings from prominent researchers, as he did during a podcast in 2022.

During that appearance, he cited a study published in the journal Pediatrics in 2000 to suggest that improvements in sanitation and hygiene — and not vaccines — fueled a drop in deaths from infectious diseases during the first half of the 20th century. That is true. But Mr. Kennedy failed to note that the study also reported that vaccines introduced in the second half of the 20th century had “virtually eliminated” deaths from diseases including polio and measles.

During one of his confirmation hearings, Mr. Kennedy cited work by a well-known vaccine scientist, Dr. Gregory Poland, to suggest Black people should follow a different vaccine schedule because they needed fewer antigens, the vaccine components that provoke an immune response.

Dr. Poland did not respond to requests for comment. But he told National Public Radio that his work did not support Mr. Kennedy’s assertion.

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Mr. Kennedy and Dr. Mawson have long aired similar concerns about vaccines.

In an appearance before the Mississippi legislature in 2009, Dr. Mawson called for more vaccine safety research and “a more flexible approach to vaccination requirements for school attendance.” In a 2011 lawsuit, Dr. Mawson said the testimony had cost him his job as an epidemiologist at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

In 2017, Dr. Mawson published a pilot study comparing vaccinated to unvaccinated children.

The study relied on a survey of parents who home-schooled their children and found higher rates of autism among vaccinated children, compared with those who had not been vaccinated. The study was funded in part by Generation Rescue, a nonprofit associated with Jenny McCarthy, a television personality who has promoted claims of a link between vaccines and autism.

Dr. Mawson by that time had established the Chalfont Research Institute, a charity that operates out of his home in Jackson, Miss. The institute reported revenue of just $57 in 2021, the most recent figures available.

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In 2019, it received charitable contributions of $160,000, tax records show. The bulk of that money, $150,000, came from the National Vaccine Information Center, a group whose mission includes supporting research on “vaccine-associated deaths, injuries and chronic illness.”

Like Mr. Kennedy, the group’s president and co-founder, Barbara Loe Fisher, has long called for research comparing “total health outcomes” including the risk of autism, in vaccinated and unvaccinated children. When Dr. Mawson approached her group with a proposal, she said, the center reviewed his pilot study of 2017, approved his plan and provided $150,000 in funding.

That money paid for the paper Mr. Kennedy cited at the hearing, during an exchange with Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana and a doctor.

The journal that published the study, Science, Public Health Policy and the Law, advertises itself as peer-reviewed, meaning its research is evaluated by anonymous independent experts before publication. Dr. Mawson said his paper had undergone review by two such experts.

Some people associated with the journal are also associated with Mr. Kennedy.

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James Lyons-Weiler, the journal’s editor in chief, described himself as a longtime ally of Mr. Kennedy’s in a yearslong “fight across 20 states” for vaccine exemptions.

“Honored to call him my friend,” he wrote on social media last year.

The journal’s editorial board includes the chief executive and the chief scientific officer of Children’s Health Defense, the nonprofit that Mr. Kennedy led until he began his presidential campaign in 2023.

The board also includes members who sell products or services for people who are concerned about vaccines. One of its editorial board members offers $2,350 telehealth appointments for “post-vaccine syndrome.” Another sells $90 “spike detox” supplements marketed for “vaccine injury syndrome” that is meant to get “you back to that pre-Covid feeling.”

The study by Dr. Mawson that Mr. Kennedy cited at the hearing focused on about 47,000 children enrolled in Florida Medicaid from 1999 to 2011 and looked at billing data to determine their vaccination status.

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The study found very few billing records for unvaccinated children with autism — eight who were born prematurely and 54 overall. It concluded that vaccination was significantly associated with higher rates of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism, particularly in infants who were born prematurely.

By contrast, large-scale studies in respected medical journals, including an analysis of five studies involving more than 1.2 million children, have found no association between vaccines and autism.

But even as Dr. Mawson’s research took shape, problems emerged. The paper notes that researchers lost access to the database they used to perform the study. Dr. Alex Morozov, an expert on clinical trial design who met with Dr. Mawson to discuss the study, said he viewed that as a red flag.

Dr. Morozov also said the study had a “fundamental flaw”: It failed to account for the possibility that vaccinated children might have more encounters with the medical system than unvaccinated children, whose illnesses would not be captured by billing data.

The study also failed to account for factors like family history of autism, the child’s gender (boys are diagnosed with higher rates of autism than girls) or the possibility that children might have been vaccinated outside the Florida Medicaid system, said Bertha Hidalgo, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

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Dr. Mawson strongly defended the work, noting that the study “carefully documents both its strengths and limitations,” but contending that critics focused only on the limitations. “Nevertheless,” he said, “further research is needed to replicate the findings and to unravel the mechanisms involved.”

At the Senate hearing, Mr. Cassidy pressed Mr. Kennedy to accept that the vaccines and autism debate was settled. He reminded Mr. Kennedy that he had been shown the study of 1.2 million children that found no link between the two.

“I’m a doc, trying to understand,” Mr. Cassidy said, adding, “Convince me that you will become the public health advocate, but not just churn old information so that there’s never a conclusion.”

To that, Mr. Kennedy replied, “I’m going to be an advocate for strong science. You show me those scientific studies, and you and I can meet about it. And there are other studies as well. I’d love to show those to you.”

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