American Council on Science and Health

What American Council on Science and Health does

The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit pro-science consumer advocacy organization founded in 1978 and headquartered in New York City. It operates a content publishing platform — anchored at acsh.org — that produces science-based commentary on biomedicine, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, nutrition, disease, mental health, and health policy, with the stated mission of "separating sense from nonsense" and countering health misinformation, chemophobia, and sensationalized reporting. The organization serves a general consumer audience seeking evidence-based health information, as well as a secondary audience of policymakers, journalists, and influencers who cite ACSH content.

ACSH's core products are its science commentary website, the Science Dispatch podcast (distributed through iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts), a second podcast (Science Facts and Fallacies), topic-organized publication categories (Chemicals & Chemistry, Biomedicine & Biotech, Disease, Drugs & Pharmaceuticals, Food & Nutrition, Harm Reduction, Mental Health & Society, Policy & Ethics, Parents & Kids), and email newsletters (Dispatch and Weekend Edition). The underlying technology is a standard website content publishing system; no proprietary AI, APIs, SDKs, mobile apps, or integrations are documented.

The revenue model is charitable: ACSH explicitly states it has no endowment and raises funds annually from individuals and foundations. All content is freely available — there is no paid product, subscription tier, or pricing model. Operationally, ACSH is a lean organization with 1-10 employees, a small executive and director-level team of credentialed scientists (including a PhD chemist with 20+ years in drug discovery, an MD/MBA/FACS vascular surgeon, and a PhD microbiologist), and no disclosed subsidiaries, parent entity, partnerships, patents, certifications, or third-party funding rounds.

Name

American Council on Science and Health

Legal name

American Council on Science and Health

Website

https://acsh.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The American Council on Science and Health is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1978 that publishes science-based commentary on health, nutrition, pharmaceuticals, and policy via its website, podcasts, and social media, funded by annual donations from individuals and foundations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Health Advocacy

NAICS

Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Medical & Clinical Reference (Physicians, Nursing, Allied Health) (EDAGAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Health, Wellness & Fitness Trade Publishing (MPAJAAAL), Medical, Clinical & Biomedical Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAB)

Keywords

• Science commentary
• Health advocacy
• Consumer education
• Public health policy
• Evidence-based research

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ACSH produces and publishes evidence-based science and health commentary through its website, podcasts, email newsletters, and publications, covering biomedicine, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, nutrition, mental health, and public health policy. The organization critically analyzes media health claims and pseudoscience, distributing content freely to general public consumers. Content is sustained by donations from individuals and foundations, with no endowment.

Product overview

ACSH operates a science and health education platform comprising a website with published commentary articles, a podcast series (Science Dispatch), and topic-organized publications covering biomedicine, chemistry, disease, pharmaceuticals, food, nutrition, mental health, and health policy. The organization functions as a science communication outlet rather than a technology product company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ACSH Science & Health Commentary Website A freely accessible website publishing evidence-based science and health commentary covering biomedicine, chemicals (health and environmental impacts), disease, drugs, food and nutrition, mental health, and policy topics; targeted at general public consumers seeking credible analysis of health and science claims.
• Science Dispatch Podcast

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Sense About Science: UK-based charity promoting evidence-based understanding of science among the public and policymakers; directly comparable nonprofit model and mission of separating sound science from misleading claims.
• Genetic Literacy Project: Science communication outlet focused on genetics, biotech, and food policy, debunking misinformation; directly comparable as a niche nonprofit publisher in the same pro-science advocacy space where ACSH's EVP previously worked.
• RealClearScience: Science news and commentary aggregator founded by ACSH's former VP of Scientific Communications; directly comparable editorial format covering science commentary for general audiences.
• Quackwatch: Long-running consumer-protection site investigating health fraud, quackery, and intelligent-design claims; shares ACSH's mission of debunking pseudoscience in health and operates as a similarly lean nonprofit publishing operation.
• Science-Based Medicine: Editorially independent nonprofit publishing evidence-based analysis of medicine and health claims, covering complementary/alternative medicine, vaccines, and pharmaceuticals; same pro-science, anti-misinformation positioning and donation-based nonprofit model as ACSH.

Broad incumbents

• STAT News: Subscription health and life sciences news outlet covering pharma, biotech, medicine, and policy; a broader incumbent that overlaps ACSH's topics but with much greater resources, professional journalists, and a commercial rather than advocacy model.
• Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI): Established consumer advocacy nonprofit focused on nutrition, food safety, and health; comparable nonprofit advocacy model and consumer health focus, though ideologically opposed to ACSH on many industry positions.
• The Conversation: Nonprofit media outlet publishing expert-authored commentary across science, health, and policy with academic credibility; overlaps ACSH's evidence-based science communication but at much larger scale and with institutional academic sourcing.

Emerging players

• Committee for Skeptical Inquiry: Nonprofit organization promoting scientific skepticism and critical inquiry into pseudoscience and the paranormal; comparable advocacy against misinformation, with similar small-team nonprofit publishing model.
• Health News Review: Project that critically reviews health news claims for evidence quality; shares ACSH's specific focus on holding media health coverage accountable but operates as a project rather than an established brand.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/acshorg
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/ACSHonTV
• Facebookfacebook.com/ACSHorg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/american-council-on-science-and-health

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about American Council on Science and Health