As part of the 2022 U.S. spending bill, Congress moved to allot $1 billion to fund a new agency to accelerate biomedical and health research. The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) aims to support innovative research that will promote transformative solutions to people’s health.
With its mission to speed up innovative approaches to biomedical and health challenges, ARPA-H will operate similarly to the military’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which means funding fast-paced, high-risk projects that have the potential to revolutionize health care. Like DARPA, ARPA-H is expected to hire program managers on short-term contracts to solicit research ideas and immediately fund them. If research ideas fail, contracts will end and resources will be redirected.
After some ambiguity over whether the agency would be housed under the auspices of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or considered an independent agency, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra determined it will be a part of the NIH. However, the director of ARPA-H will report to the secretary of Health and Human Services. The final decisions about the new agency depend on the outcomes of two bills in Congress. One bill would require the new agency to be placed within the NIH but at a different physical location, and a second would require it to be an independent agency.
Source: The Scientist, April 1, 2022.