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US Senate committee advances Nicole Saphier as Surgeon General nominee

By Thomson Reuters Sep 30, 2026 | 10:53 AM

(In story from Sept 30, corrects first bullet point to reflect Saphier is director of breast imaging at MSK Monmouth, a ​hospital branch, not the main Memorial Sloan ‌Kettering Cancer Center)

Sept 30 (Reuters) – The US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Wednesday voted to advance Nicole Saphier as the nominee for US Surgeon General.

President ‌Donald ​Trump nominated Saphier in April, ⁠making her his third ⁠pick for the post after withdrawing the nominations of Casey Means and, before her, Janette Nesheiwat in May 2025.

• Radiologist Saphier, director of breast ​imaging at MSK Monmouth, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s Middletown, New Jersey branch, has ⁠a doctor of medicine degree ⁠from Ross University School of Medicine, ​Barbados, and fellowships at the Mayo Clinic

• The former ​Fox News contributor was grilled earlier this month ‌on childhood vaccines and voiced support for immunization

• The HELP Committee voted to favorably report multiple Trump administration nominees at the Department of Health ⁠and Human Services (HHS) and National Mediation Board

• They will face a final Senate vote at a later date

• The ⁠committee voted ‌to advance Saphier to be Medical ⁠director in the regular corps of ​the Public ‌Health Service and Surgeon General

• HHS ​describes the ⁠role as the “Nation’s Doctor, providing Americans with the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and reduce the risk of illness and injury.”

(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by ​Joyjeet Das)