Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health

Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health
Agency overview
FormedMarch 15, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-03-15)
JurisdictionFederal Government of the United States
Agency executives
Parent departmentDepartment of Health and Human Services
Websitearpa-h.gov

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) is an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services.[1] Its mission is to "make pivotal investments in break-through technologies and broadly applicable platforms, capabilities, resources, and solutions that have the potential to transform important areas of medicine and health for the benefit of all patients and that cannot readily be accomplished through traditional research or commercial activity."[2]

ARPA-H was approved by Congress with the passing of H.R. 2471, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 and was signed into Public Law 117-103 by U.S. President Joe Biden on March 15, 2022.[3] 15 days later Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced that the agency will have access to the resources of the National Institutes of Health, but will answer to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.[4] The agency initially has a $1 billion budget to be used before fiscal year 2025 (October 2024) and the Biden administration has requested much more funding from Congress. On September 13, 2022, Biden announced his intent to appoint Renee Wegrzyn, formerly of the DARPA biotech office, as the agency's inaugural director, but it is still unknown where its headquarters will be located.[5]

In December 2022, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Pub.L. 117-328) provided $1.5 billion for ARPA-H for fiscal year 2023. The Biden administration requested and received $2.5 billion for FY2024, and had spent $400 million in research grants by August 13, 2024.[6]

In March 2023, ARPA-H announced one of its three headquarters locations would be in the Washington metropolitan area.[7][8] In September 2023, ARPA-H announced that a second hub would be located in Cambridge, Massachusetts following a bid led by U.S. Representative Richard Neal from Massachusetts's 1st congressional district and University of Massachusetts System President Marty Meehan to have the agency locate a hub in the Greater Boston area.[9][10] The third patient engagement-focused hub was established in Dallas, Texas.[11]

  1. ^ "Russell Named Acting Deputy Director for New Advanced Research Entity". NIH Record. 2022-06-10. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
  2. ^ "ARPA-H Mission". National Institutes of Health (NIH). 29 June 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  3. ^ Jeffries, Hakeem S. (15 March 2022). "H.R.2471 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 27 April 2022. Division H, Title II. Page 136 STAT. 465 contains relevant passage.
  4. ^ Mesa, Natalie (1 April 2022). "ARPA-H to Be Within NIH but Independently Managed by HHS". The Scientist Magazine. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  5. ^ Kozlov, Max (13 September 2022). "Billion-dollar US health agency gets new chief — but its direction remains in limbo". Nature. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  6. ^ Tausche, Kayla (August 13, 2024). "With 'Cancer Moonshot' announcement, Biden turns to causes most important to him in final months in office". CNN. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
  7. ^ Kavya Sekar; Marcy E. Gallo (May 23, 2023). Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H): Overview and Selected Issues (Report 47568) (PDF) (Report). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
  8. ^ Pub. L. 117–328 (text) (PDF), Division FF, Title II (page 420 of engrossed bill)
  9. ^ Weisman, Robert; Chesto, Jon (September 26, 2023). "Cambridge picked as a national hub for new federal health research agency". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
  10. ^ Chesto, Jon (May 16, 2022). "The feds are choosing a headquarters for a federal health research center. Why not pick Boston?". The Boston Globe. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  11. ^ Pandey, Maia (2023-09-26). "Dallas selected as one of three national hubs for new medical innovation federal agency". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 2023-10-13.