An epidemiologist who has speculated about whether there is a connection between Covid-19 vaccines and “turbo cancer” in young people, and works as chief epidemiologist at a company that sells ivermectin alongside reviews that claim it has efficacy as a cancer treatment, has been appointed by president Donald Trump to a key position overseeing the National Cancer Program.
Harvey Risch, a professor emeritus of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, announced his appointment as chair of the President’s Cancer Panel on X earlier this month. Risch’s profile page on the Yale website has also been updated to read “In November 2025, President Trump appointed Dr. Risch to Chair the President’s Cancer panel.”
No formal announcement was made by the president or the White House, and the Cancer Panel website’s list of current members does not include Risch. The White House, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Cancer Panel, and Risch did not respond to requests for comment.
In his new position, Risch will oversee a group which is assigned to monitor “the development and execution of the activities of the National Cancer Program and report to the President on progress, efficacy, and opportunities for improvement,” according to the Cancer Panel’s website.
As well as lending credibility to unproven treatments for Covid-19 like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin—he promoted the former in congressional testimony—Risch has more recently wondered whether the Covid-19 vaccines cause “turbo cancer” in some people. Now experts are worried that he could derail critical research into the causes and treatments for cancer.
“Having him on the panel charged with monitoring the progress of efforts to improve cancer treatment and providing recommendations to the president is a disaster for cancer patients, as he will inject conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and false claims about cancer into the panel’s reports,” alleges Dr. David Gorski, a surgical oncologist.
Another expert, who spoke to WIRED on condition of anonymity because they’re afraid of retribution for speaking out about a Trump appointee, warned that they are concerned his conspiracy-adjacent beliefs might bleed into the National Cancer Program, a longstanding effort to coordinate the funding of critical cancer research and training.
“I am genuinely concerned that we are going to see ivermectin for cancer promoted at the federal level,” the doctor, who closely tracks the spread of medical disinformation, tells WIRED.
Risch is just the latest in a litany of controversial or unqualified figures who have been appointed to key public health positions in the federal government in Trump’s second term in office, including the appointments of anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary and former daytime talk show host Dr. Memhet Oz being appointed to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Trump has also nominated Casey Means to be surgeon general despite the fact she does not currently have a licence to practice medicine. Kennedy, meanwhile, has filled his vaccine advisory committee with doctors who have promoted anti-vaccine conspiracy theories.
Risch was among a cohort of medical professionals who embraced the use of alternative treatments for Covid-19 during the global pandemic in 2020. He was an early proponent of hydroxychloroquine, relying on questionable data to back up his claims.
At the time, his Yale colleagues publicly criticized his efforts. “As his colleagues, we defend the right of Dr. Risch, a respected cancer epidemiologist, to voice his opinions,” they wrote in a public letter. “But he is not an expert in infectious disease epidemiology and he has not been swayed by the body of scientific evidence from rigorously conducted clinical trials, which refute the plausibility of his belief and arguments.”
Despite—or perhaps because of—this, Risch became a fixture on right-wing media outlets during the pandemic, including appearances on Fox News and Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast. A 2022 House Select Committee report also revealed that Risch was in direct contact with people adjacent to the Trump administration about the use of hydroxychloroquine.
As well as his position at Yale, Risch is also the chief epidemiologist for The Wellness Company, a MAGA-aligned alternative health organization that sells supplements as well as hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, and a treatment that has been advocated for as a Covid vaccine “detox.” While the website does not advertise ivermectin as a cancer treatment, the reviews of the products clearly show that customers are using it as a way to treat their cancer. The Wellness Company did not respond to requests for comments.
In 2023, Risch speculated about whether there is a link between the mRNA Covid-19 vaccine and so-called “turbo cancers.” This echoed claims that anti-vaccine activists online had been promoting for years, suggesting without evidence that the vaccines could cause more aggressive forms of cancer.
“The most serious errors in his beliefs are in regards to ‘turbo cancer,’” says Frank Han, a pediatric subspecialist at the Heart Center at Connecticut Children’s hospital. “This is so fundamentally against basic principles of oncology and epidemiology that it is hard to believe someone professionally trained in epidemiology would make this mistake.”
Risch’s speculation is in direct opposition to the advice dispensed by the National Cancer Institute. “There is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines cause cancer, lead to recurrence, or lead to disease progression,” the NCI website reads. “Furthermore, COVID-19 vaccines do not change your DNA.”
In fact, the NCI says that cancer patients tend to be older, have weakened immune systems, and other comorbidities, which “are all reasons for them to get vaccinated.”
Risch, if his appointment is confirmed, will replace Elizabeth Jaffee, a pancreatic cancer researcher at Johns Hopkins University whose term as the panel’s chair ended in March,. “There typically is turnover with a new administration,“ Jaffee, who has been critical of the Trump administration’s cuts to funding for cancer research, tells WIRED. “My term was toward the end at that point.”
The panel currently has two other members, Mitchel Berger, a neurosurgeon and Carol Brown, gynecologic cancer surgeon. Neither responded to requests for comment.
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