Trump administration to award a no-bid contract on research into
vaccines and autism
[September 13, 2025]
By MIKE STOBBE
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal health officials intend to award a contract to
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to investigate whether there is a link
between vaccinations and autism, according to a government procurement
notice.
The Troy, New York, engineering school is getting the no-bid contract
because of its “unique ability” to link data on children and mothers,
according to the notice posted this week.
Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services did not
immediately respond to questions about the notice, including how much
the contract is for or what exactly the researchers intend to do.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leading voice in the
antivaccine movement before President Donald Trump selected him to
oversee federal health agencies, announced in April a “massive testing
and research effort” to determine the cause of autism by this month. He
has repeatedly tried to link vaccines to the condition.
An RPI biotech engineering professor, Juergen Hahn, has used artificial
intelligence and machine learning techniques to look for patterns in
blood samples of children with autism. Hahn “is renowned for the quality
and rigor of his research," RPI officials said in a statement
acknowledging the intended grant.
"If this project is awarded, he intends to publish the results of his
work at the conclusion of the project,” the statement added.
The Associated Press left messages seeking comment from Hahn.
The notice raises many questions, said Alycia Halladay, who oversees
research activities and grants for the Autism Science Foundation.
RPI is not known in the field as having any special access to data on
this kind of question and “wouldn’t be the obvious choice,” Halladay
said.
It's also not clear how the contract fits into other autism research
that the government may be planning, she said.
But perhaps the biggest question is why money is being spent on such a
study at all, she added.
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U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends a news
conference, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP
Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
 Scientists have ruled out a link
between vaccines and autism, finding no evidence of increased rates
of autism among those who are vaccinated compared with those who are
not.
“The question has been studied for 20 years, multiple times by
researchers around the world using millions of people, and there has
never been a credible association found between vaccines and
autism,” Halladay said.
Those who have spent decades researching autism have found no single
cause. Genetics play a role, and other factors include the age of a
child’s father, the mother’s weight, and whether she had diabetes or
was exposed to certain chemicals.
Whatever amount is being spent on the project could instead be going
to “other important research questions,” including studies of
genetics and environmental factors, Halladay said.
“I think that’s the most frustrating part,” she said.
For months, HHS officials have been trying to use vaccine safety
data compiled by the CDC to look for harms that might be tied to
shots. Kennedy has accused CDC leaders of stonewalling those
efforts, but the actual obstacle has been something else, said one
former federal health official familiar with the situation, speaking
on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
About a dozen medical research organizations collect the vaccine
safety data and report it to the CDC. Contracts that stretch back
nearly two decades give those entities — not the CDC — control over
the data, and HHS has not yet been able to get it, the official
said.
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