{{Short description|United States federal agency}} {{Infobox government agency | name = Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health | seal = | logo = | formed = {{start date and age|2022|03|15}} | jurisdiction = Federal government of the United States | employees = | budget = | chief1_name = Alicia Jackson | chief1_position = Director | chief2_name = | chief2_position = | chief3_name = | chief3_position = | chief4_name = | chief4_position = | chief5_name = | chief5_position = | chief6_name = | chief6_position = | chief7_name = | chief7_position = | chief8_name = | chief8_position = | chief9_name = | chief9_position = | parent_department = Department of Health and Human Services | website = {{URL|arpa-h.gov}} }}

The '''Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health''' ('''ARPA-H''') is an agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-06-10 |title=Russell Named Acting Deputy Director for New Advanced Research Entity |url=https://nihrecord.nih.gov/2022/06/10/russell-named-acting-deputy-director-new-advanced-research-entity |access-date=2022-08-28 |website=NIH Record |language=EN}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web |title=ARPA-H Mission |work=National Institutes of Health (NIH) |url=https://arpa-h.gov/ |access-date=27 April 2022 |language=EN |date=29 June 2021}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jeffries |first1=Hakeem S. |title=H.R.2471 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2471 |website=www.congress.gov |access-date=27 April 2022 |date=15 March 2022}} Division H, Title II. Page 136 STAT. 465 contains relevant passage.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mesa |first1=Natalie |title=ARPA-H to Be Within NIH but Independently Managed by HHS |url=https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/arpa-h-to-be-within-nih-but-independently-managed-by-hhs-69862 |access-date=27 April 2022 |work=The Scientist Magazine |date=1 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref> 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.

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.<ref name="Tausche 2024">{{cite web | last=Tausche | first=Kayla | title=With 'Cancer Moonshot' announcement, Biden turns to causes most important to him in final months in office | website=CNN | date=August 13, 2024 | url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/13/politics/biden-to-highlight-closest-causes-in-final-months-in-office/index.html | access-date=August 16, 2024}}</ref>

In March 2023, ARPA-H announced one of its three headquarters locations would be in the Washington metropolitan area.<ref>{{cite report|url=https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R47568.pdf |author=Kavya Sekar |author2=Marcy E. Gallo |title=Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H): Overview and Selected Issues (Report 47568)|date=May 23, 2023|publisher=Congressional Research Service|access-date=July 1, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{USPL|117|328}}, Division FF, Title II (page 420 of engrossed bill)</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Weisman|first1=Robert|last2=Chesto|first2=Jon|date=September 26, 2023|title=Cambridge picked as a national hub for new federal health research agency|work=The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/09/26/business/cambridge-arpa-h-hub/|access-date=September 26, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Chesto|first=Jon|date=May 16, 2022|title=The feds are choosing a headquarters for a federal health research center. Why not pick Boston?|work=The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/05/16/business/feds-choosing-hq-federal-health-research-center-why-not-boston/|access-date=May 20, 2022}}</ref> The third patient engagement-focused hub was established in Dallas, Texas.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pandey |first=Maia |date=2023-09-26 |title=Dallas selected as one of three national hubs for new medical innovation federal agency |url=https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/26/dallas-arpha-h-national-hub/ |access-date=2023-10-13 |website=The Texas Tribune |language=en}}</ref>

== History == The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA, formerly ARPA) has been the military's in-house innovator since 1958, a year after the USSR launched Sputnik. DARPA is widely known for creating ARPAnet, the predecessor of the internet, and has been instrumental in advancing hardened electronics, brain-computer interface technology, drones, and stealth technology. Inspired by the success of DARPA, in 2002 the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA) was created and in 2006 the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) was created. This was followed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) in 2009 and the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Infrastructure (ARPA-I) in 2022. DARPA also inspired the Advanced Research and Invention Agency in the UK and in 2021 the Biden administration proposed ARPA-C for climate research.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tollefson |first1=Jeff |title=The rise of 'ARPA-everything' and what it means for science |journal=Nature |date=22 July 2021 |volume=595 |issue=7868 |pages=483–484 |doi=10.1038/d41586-021-01878-z |pmid=34244687 |bibcode=2021Natur.595..483T |s2cid=235787224 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01878-z |access-date=27 April 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The Suzanne Wright Foundation proposed "HARPA" in 2017 to focus on pancreatic cancer and other challenging diseases.<ref>{{cite web |title=HARPA: Health Advanced Research Projects Agency |url=https://www.harpa.org/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021125213855/http://www.harpa.org/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=November 25, 2002 |publisher=The Suzanne Wright Foundation |access-date=27 April 2022}}</ref> A white paper was published by former Obama White House staffers, Michael Stebbins and Geoffrey Ling through the Day One Project that [https://www.dayoneproject.org/ideas/creating-the-health-advanced-research-projects-agency-harpa/ proposed] the creation of a new federal agency modeled on DARPA, but focused on health. That proposal was adopted by President Biden's campaign and was the model used for establishing ARPA-H.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stebbins |first1=Michael |last2=Ling |first2=Geoffrey |title=Creating the Health Advanced Research Projects Agency (HARPA) |website=Federation of American Scientists |date=19 April 2020 |url=https://www.dayoneproject.org/ideas/creating-the-health-advanced-research-projects-agency-harpa |access-date=27 April 2022}}</ref> In June 2021 noted biologists Francis S. Collins (then head of the NIH), Tara Schwetz, Lawrence Tabak, and Eric Lander penned an article in ''Science'' supporting the idea.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Collins |first1=Francis S. |last2=Schwetz |first2=Tara A. |last3=Tabak |first3=Lawrence A. |last4=Lander |first4=Eric S. |title=ARPA-H: Accelerating biomedical breakthroughs |journal=Science |date=9 July 2021 |volume=373 |issue=6551 |pages=165–167 |doi=10.1126/science.abj8547|pmid=34244402 |bibcode=2021Sci...373..165C |s2cid=235769725 }}</ref> Dr. Collins became an important champion of the idea on Capitol Hill and the legislation garnered numerous sponsors in the 117th Congress.

In September 2022, Renee Wegrzyn was appointed as the agency's inaugural director.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-09-12 |title=President Biden Announces Intent to Appoint Dr. Renee Wegrzyn as Inaugural Director of Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) |url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/12/president-biden-announces-intent-to-appoint-dr-renee-wegrzyn-as-inaugural-director-of-advanced-research-projects-agency-for-health-arpa-h/ |access-date=2022-09-12 |website=The White House |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=DARPA Forward {{!}} Dr. Renee Wegrzyn |url=https://forward.darpa.mil/presenters/Dr_Renee_Wegrzyn |access-date=2022-09-12 |website=forward.darpa.mil}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=2022-09-12 |title=Biden's new biomedical innovation agency gets its first director |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/biden-s-new-biomedical-innovation-agency-gets-its-first-director |access-date=2022-09-18 |website=www.science.org |language=en |doi=10.1126/science.ade8505|url-access=subscription }}</ref> She was dismissed by the Trump administration in February 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McKenzie |first=Lindsay |date=2025-02-14 |title=ARPA-H Director Fired by Trump Administration |url=https://ww2.aip.org/fyi/arpa-h-director-fired-by-trump-administration |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=American Institute of Physics |language=en}}</ref> Jason Roos served as acting director until Alicia Jackson's appointment as director in November 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-11-05 |title=New Leadership of ARPA-H and ONR |url=https://fabbs.org/news/2025/11/new-leadership-arpah/ |access-date=2025-12-29 |website=FABBS |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=HHS Announces Five New Agency Leaders to Advance MAHA Goals |url=https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/hhs-five-new-agency-leaders-maha.html}}</ref>

== Research == A White House white paper identifies a number of potential directions for technological development that could occur under the direction of ARPA-H, including cancer vaccines, pandemic preparedness, and prevention technologies, less intrusive wearable blood glucose monitors, and patient-specific T-cell therapies.<ref>{{cite web |title=ARPA-H Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/092921-ARPA-H-FAQ.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930230349/https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/092921-ARPA-H-FAQ.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 30, 2021 |publisher=The White House |access-date=27 April 2022}}</ref> Additionally, the proposal suggests that ARPA-H focus on platforms to reduce health disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality and improve how medications provided are taken.

One of the first grants from the organization was to its DIGIHEALS initiative for innovative research that aims to protect the United States health care system against hostile online threats. Christian Dameff and Jeff Tully, medical doctors and medical cybersecurity researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, as well as cybersecurity expert Stefan Savage, were named investigators to the Healthcare Ransomware Resiliency and Response Program, or H-R3P, project.<ref>{{Cite web |title=UC San Diego Awarded $9.5 Million to Enhance Cybersecurity in Health Care |url=https://today.ucsd.edu/story/uc-san-diego-awarded-9.5-million-to-enhance-cybersecurity-in-health-care |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=today.ucsd.edu |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-01 |title=DIGIHEALS Awardees {{!}} ARPA-H |url=https://arpa-h.gov/explore-funding/programs/digiheals/awardees |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=arpa-h.gov |language=en}}</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == * [https://arpa-h.gov/ Official website]

{{National Institutes of Health}} {{United States research agencies}} {{Authority control}}

Category:National Institutes of Health Category:Medical research organizations Category:American medical research Category:American organizations established in 2022 Category:Government agencies established in 2022