Joe Hibbeln, a former Silver Spring resident and National Institutes of Health (NIH) doctor known for his omega-3 research and promotion of the benefits of fish oil consumption, has been named by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to his new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices.
The committee makes recommendations about vaccine approvals and is considered influential because it is connected to federal policies, such as decisions about which vaccines insurers are required to cover. Hibbeln was one of eight new advisers named by Kennedy for the committee Wednesday.
“With more than 120 peer-reviewed publications and extensive experience in federal advisory roles, Dr. Hibbeln brings expertise in immune-related outcomes, psychiatric conditions, and evidence-based public health strategies,” Kennedy wrote in a social media post Wednesday.
Kennedy fired all 17 previous members of the committee Tuesday, saying that it “has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine,” CBS News reported.
“A clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science,” Kennedy wrote in an opinion piece published by The Wall Street Journal on Monday.
Hibbeln, 64, retired from NIH in 2020 after more than 25 years. His research portfolio previously covered nutritional intake of fatty acids such as omega-3. He participated on federal panels related to his work, including the federal Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee in 2020.
According to Hibbeln’s LinkedIn page, he was a psychiatrist at Barton Health in South Lake Tahoe, California, between 2020 and 2022 following his retirement from NIH and is a visiting professor at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.
Hibbeln declined to comment about his committee appointment when reached by phone by Bethesda Today on Thursday afternoon.
Hibbeln was profiled in Bethesda Magazine in 2012 about his omega-3 research and being known in the community as “Mr. Omega-3.” His studies linked inadequate essential fatty acids to depression, alcoholism, violence, suicide and impaired brain development. His goal was to encourage people to reduce consumption of omega-6 fatty acids and increase intake of omega-3s. He promoted fish oil, which is high in omega-3s, as a way to consume these fatty acids.
“I’m convinced,” Hibbeln told the magazine, “that many costly diseases of modern civilization may be linked to this dramatic shift in the fats in our food supply.”
Bethesda Magazine freelance writer Sandra Fleishman contributed to this story.
