The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, will gather this week for its second regular meeting of the year, but this won’t be a typical meeting.

Two weeks ago, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has a history of vaccine skepticism, upended the independent advisory panel and its planned agenda. All 17 of the previous members were dismissed, and eight new ones were added. Presentation topics central to anti-vaccine activists’ arguments were placed on the schedule, despite studies and data about safety.

Ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, one of the eight new members, Dr. Michael Ross, withdrew during the required financial holdings review, HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said.

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