RIO ARPA-H Info & Assistance

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ARPA-H Overview and News

The Research & Innovation Office is soliciting expressions of interest from researchers who are interested in pursuing ARPA-H funding (see below). Note: Proposers should use the Heilmeier Catechism questions as a framework for developing expressions of interest.

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) is a new federal funding agency advancing high-potential, high-impact biomedical and health research with the potential to radically improve health. The agency will prioritize projects—spanning the molecular to the societal—not readily accomplished through traditional research or commercial activity. Focus areas include: Health Science Futures, Scalable Solutions, Proactive Health and Resilient Systems. The agency, which is modeled after DARPA, will use a streamlined awards process to fund projects quickly and at scale. As ARPA-H recruits program managers and develops new funding programs, details will be provided on this site. 

Keep up with news and announcements through the ARPA-H newsletter, ARPA-H Vitals

If you’d like to keep up with the new ARPA-H and what’s happening in the domain of federal funding for health innovation, here is the link for signing up for their regular newsletter. ARPA-H says that Vitals is the one way to stay updated on ARPA-H, learn about opportunities, and to send queries about challenges and solutions.

ARPA-H FY24-26 Strategic Plan

ARPA-H Current Opportunities

ARPA-H All Programs

Platform Optimizing SynBio for Early Intervention and Detection in Oncology (POSEIDON)

  • Big Question:  What if a simple test could save millions of lives by catching cancer early?
  • Program Manager:Ross Uhrich, DMD, MBA
  • Special Notice on SAM.gov
  • Draft Innovative Solutions Opening
  • Opportunity:
    • The POSEIDON program seeks a future in which over-the-counter tests to screen for and detect dozens of cancers at Stage I is a reality possible to drastically improve the chances of curative treatment and survival. POSEIDON aims to develop low-cost, simple-to-operate Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) tests that use engineered sensor and synthetic reports to overcome the inherent limitations of native biomarkers to detect 30+ solid tumors with unmatched sensitivity and specificity.
    • Performers must build up two MCED tests, one designed for breath-based detection and/or one for urine-based detection. Each test must target 30+ solid tumor types, which include 25 types required by the program and at least 5 additional types selected by performers.
    • The POSEIDON program has two Technical Areas (TAs). Each proposal must address both TAs:
      • TA1: Sensor and Synthetic Reporter Development. Focuses on the design, development, and testing of sensors and synthetic reporters for breath- or urine-based detection.
      • TA2: Cancer Screening Kit. Focuses on the design, development, and testing of all hardware and software components for a low-cost, simple-to-operate device that integrates sensors and synthetic reporters from TA1 into an MCED kit for at-home screening. 
  • Proposers’ Day: September 4, 2024, Baltimore, MD (In-person only); Register here by August 27
  • Anticipated Solution Summary Deadline: TBD--ARPA-H expects to publish a draft funding solicitation by mid-August and final solicitation by the end of August. For more information about POSEIDON or to express your interest in securing an in-person Proposers’ Day spot, please contact Lisa Nanstad.
  • FAQs
  • Ask a Question Portal
  • Teaming Page

Groundbreaking Lymphatic Interventions and Drug Exploration (GLIDE)

  • Big Question: What if doctors were able to prevent and cure human disease by targeting the lymphatic system?
  • Program Manager: Kimberley Steele, MD, PhD
  • Special Notice: Special Notice on SAM.GOV
  • Draft Innovative Solutions Opening: Opening on SAM.GOV
  • Opportunity: The GLIDE program aims to develop therapeutic and physical interventions that alleviate, repair, and regenerate irregular or dysfunctional lymphatic vasculature, with product design and commercialization considerations that favor broad accessibility and adoption. GLIDE is designed to be complementary to the diagnostics of LIGHT program (Lymphatic Imaging, Genomics, and Phenotyping Technologies).
    • There are Technical Areas and two tracks/pathways. Each proposal must select/address only one of each.
      • Technical Areas (TAs)
        • TA1: Restore Flow through Physical Interventions. Develop technology to enhance surgery, microsurgery, interventional radiology, nuclear medicine, compression, or other physical/mechanical means to restore obstructed flow through the lymphatic system.
        • TA2: Normalize Function through Targeted Pharmacologic, Gene, and Cell Therapy. Platform development and therapeutic identification of pharmacological, genetic, or cellular approaches to repair, regenerate, and/or relieve obstruction causing lymphatic drainage.
      • Pathways (based on ARPA-H's Technology Readiness Level Guide)
        • TRL1: Activator Pathway. For transformative early-stage solutions with limited or no preliminary data collected.
        • TRL2: Accelerator Pathway. For technologies with some demonstrated proof of concept that require additional feasibility investigation up to early efficacy data or prototyping (up to 18 months of R&D still required).
  • Proposers’ Day: Tuesday, October 1, 2024--Hybrid Event.  In-person (Memphis, TN) or virtual. (Register by Sept. 24). Space is limited, so please contact Lisa Nanstad as soon as possible to express your interest in attending in person.
  • Anticipated Solution Summary Deadline: October 31, 2024
  • Anticipated Proposal Deadline: Pitch Presentation and Full Proposal BY INVITATION ONLY
  • Ask a Question: GLIDE Ask a Question Portal
  • Teaming Page:  GLIDE Teaming Profiles Portal

ARPA-H Past Opportunities

  • Press Release
  • Big Question: What if indoor air was always safe and healthy?
  • Program Manager:Jessica Green, PhD (PS Coordinator for this effort BREATHE@arpa-h.gov, ATTN: ARPA-H-SOL-24-107)
  • Special Notice on SAM.gov
  • BREATHE Draft Solicitation-comments and feedback due April 23, 2024 (anticipated final program solicitation posting date: May 28, 2024)
  • Opportunity: The Building Resilient Environments for Air and Total HEalth (BREATHE) program envisions smart building systems that monitor and respond to changes in indoor air quality. Green buildings balance thermal comfort and energy efficiency and BREATHE aims to employ similar approaches to handle indoor pathogen and allergen exposure. To succeed, BREATHE will need to develop tools to sense airborne bioaerosols, assess indoor air quality exposure risk, and deliver cost-effective building interventions to improve human health.
  • Special Note: To create a scalable system capable of monitoring and managing indoor air, BREATHE will engage performers across a range of expertise, including molecular diagnostic testing and biosensor instrument developers, data analysts, risk assessment software developers, property management firms, and others. The program has three technical areas: creating indoor biosensors, developing respiratory risk assessment software, and installing systems in buildings to cost-effectively deliver healthier air when needed.
  • Proposers’ Day (hybrid): May 2, 2024, 8:30 am-5 pm PT (7:30 am-4 pm MT), Oakland, CA (register here; in person registration closes on April 30, 2024, 9 am PT; virtual registration closes on April 30, 2 pm PT.
  • Solution Summary Deadline: June 21, 2024
  • Proposal Deadline: August 26, 2024
  • Anticipated Period of Performance Start Date: February 2025
  • Award Mechanism: Other Transactions (OT)
  • Ask a Question: https://solutions.arpa-h.gov/SignIn?ReturnUrl=%2FAsk-A-Question%2F
  • BREATHE Teaming Page:  https://arpa-h.gov/research-and-funding/programs/breathe/teaming
  • Press Release
  • Goal:  Galvanize the innovator, investor, researcher, and patient advocate communities to understand women’s health challenges better, take action, and spur innovation. ARPA-H will commit $100 million towards transformative research and development in women's health as part of a new request for solutions (RFS) funding opportunity.  Seeking proposals with revolutionary, evidence-based ideas from a diverse mix of scientific visionaries to improve the lives of millions of women. Awardees will develop unconventional approaches and innovative new avenues to push high-impact biomedical research forward.  
  • Award Tracks: “Spark”—$3M awards, early-stage research, and “Launchpad—$10M awards, later-stage development
  • Project Period: 24 months
  • Topics
    • 01: Women’s Health at Home
    • 02: Prioritizing Ovarian Health Through Mid-Life To Prevent Disease
    • 03: ARTEMIS—Advancing Research Through Enhanced Models for Investigating the Influence of Sex Differences on Health Outcomes
    • 04: Advancing Women’s Brain Health Via Lymphatic Targeting
    • 05: Objective and Quantitative Measurement of Chronic Pain in Women
    • 06: Wild Card: Revolutionary Breakthroughs in Women’s Health
  • Submission Process & Timeline
    • March 6       Proposers’ Day & Teaming Site Active  (virtual/VIEW RECORDING HERE AND VIEW SLIDES HERE)
    • March 13    Submission Portal Opens
    • April 12       Solution Summary Due
    • April 13       Review Period Begins (proposers selected to pitch will be notified)
    • May-July      Proposer Pitch Period
    • July-Aug      Invitation for Collaboration & Negotiation (proposers notified)
    • Sept             Awards Issued
  • If you are interested in this opportunity, please notify Lisa Nanstad, CU Boulder RIO (lisa.nanstad@colorado.edu).  CU Boulder’s Research & Innovation Office (RIO) offers assistance, resources and support to anyone interested in ARPA-H.

Next Steps

  • Program Announcement: Request for Information on Possible Directions in Autonomous Robotic Surgery
  • RFI on SAM.gov
  • Opportunity: ARPA-H is seeking input from the research community on a number of topics in autonomous robotic surgery.  They pose 9 questions so please align your response with specific numbered questions.
    • What recent advances and techniques in machine intelligence support robots learning full surgical procedures? What challenges remain? 
    • What are current and emerging techniques for surgical robotic situational awareness in one or both of the following categories: 
      • Robotic awareness/understanding of the immediate surgical environment, including vision, proprioception, palpation, and other sensing modalities. 
      • Robotic awareness/understanding of the state of the surgery, patient, and operating theater, including anesthesia and vitals monitoring, neuromonitoring, location of instruments and sponges, etc 
    • Discuss current and emerging techniques for the registration of 3D preoperative imaging to 2D and 3D intraoperative imaging, especially in the absence of traditional fiducials. What accuracy are possible? What challenges remain?  
    • Discuss the potential of autonomous surgical robots, such as swarms of micro-robots, that drastically deviate from mimicking a surgeon’s two hands. What novel form factors exist, and how will we need to reinvent surgical procedures to use these novel robots best?  
    • Discuss the suitability of different types of surgical procedures and their potential for automation: 
      • What types of surgical procedures or tasks are most suitable for automation? Explain why, and consider tasks that may be easy to automate (e.g., due to their controlled nature); convenient to automate (e.g., due to high volume); or most beneficial to automate (e.g., due to anatomy unreachable by human surgeons). 
      • Are there types of surgical procedures you feel should not be addressed by a robot, and why? 
    • What safety features should autonomous surgical robots have? 
    • What specialized training will a clinician need to supervise an autonomous surgical robot? What staff are required to be physically present during autonomous robotic surgery? 
    • For respondents who are surgeons: what are your concerns, as surgeons, regarding autonomous surgery?  
      • What capabilities would you need to see demonstrated to be confident in allowing a robot to perform parts of a surgery?
      • While supervising an autonomous surgical robot, what information would you need to be confident the robot was operating properly? (e.g. robot’s eye view display; robot confidence in success of next step; planned surgery vs actual trajectory, etc) 
    • What are the ethical, legal, and social implications and considerations of autonomous surgery? What legal and/or regulatory reforms will be required to enable autonomous surgery? 
  • Deadline: April 22, 2024, 5 pm ET.
  • Submit comments electronically to:  robotic.surgery.RFI@arpa-h.gov, include “RFI Response: Possible Directions in Autonomous Robotic Surgery” and the name of your institution in the subject line of the email.
  • Instructions: Responses should address both the current state of the art, including the gaps in current research and development, and near future directions for any topic chosen. Where possible, quantitative metrics and specifications (how fast, how small, how accurate, how successful, how much computational power) describing current and future system performance should be given and substantiated with references to published literature. Respondents may wish to refer to levels of autonomy 0-5 (0: no autonomy; 1: robot assistance; 2: task autonomy; 3: conditional autonomy; 4: high autonomy; 5: full autonomy). 
  • Program Announcement: Engineering of Immune Cells Inside the Body (EMBODY)
  • Big Question: What if your own immune system could manufacture cures for devastating diseases?
  • Program Manager:Daria Fedyukina, PhD
  • Special Notice and draft Innovative Solutions Opening on SAM.gov
  • Opportunity: EMBODY aims to develop an adaptable, low-cost platform where cells in the body are given instructions to adjust their behavior. By moving the creation of specially trained immune cells out of the lab and in vivo, this platform could eliminate the time, cost and access hurdles faced by traditional immune cell therapy manufacturing. EMBODY is not limited to a single disease or condition. It aims to employ these new technologies to treat various immune system disorders, including chronic autoimmune diseases, hard-to-treat infections, and solid tumor cancers. Technical Area 1: cell-specific delivery methods and development of programmable and controllable genetic material; Technical Area 2: advanced production and validation methods, including reducing manufacturing cost, improving quality control, and developing predictive preclinical models of the human immune system.
  • Special Note: EMBODY aims to bring together groups often not focused on the same problem, including experts from cell and gene therapy, manufacturing, preclinical development and clinical research, to incentivize solutions and advance novel products.
  • Proposers’ Day (virtual): April 18, 2024, 11 am-3 pm EDT (register here, registration closes on April 16, 2024, 5 pm EDT)
  • Solution Summary Deadline: May 2, 2024, 5 pm EDT
  • Proposal Deadline: June 11, 2024, 5 pm EDT
  • Ask a Question: https://solutions.arpa-h.gov/Ask-A-Question/
  • EMBODY Teaming Page:  https://arpa-h.gov/research-and-funding/programs/embody/teaming
  • Program Announcement: Personalized Regenerative Immunocompetent Nanotechnology Tissue (PRINT)
  • Press Release: “ARPA-H Launches Program to Bioprint Organs on Demand”
  • Big Question: What if we could bioprint any organ on demand?
  • Program Manager:Ryan Spitler, PhD
  • PRINT Special Notice on SAM.gov
  • Opportunity: The Personalized Regenerative Immunocompetent Nanotechnology Tissue (PRINT) program intends to use state-of-the-art bioprinting technology and a regenerative medicine approach to 3D print  personalized, on demand organs that do not require immunosuppressive drugs. The goal is to use patient cells or a biobank to quickly produce immune- and blood type-matched replacement organs, such as kidneys, hearts, and lungs. If successful, PRINT technology would decrease donor list wait times, reduce the need and cost for immunosuppressive drugs, and make organs and tissues more widely available for patients across the country. PRINT focuses on 3 technical areas with the end goal of restoring normal tissue function. Technical Area 1: generate the necessary cell types for organ bioprinting, via blood draw, biopsy, or biobank generation. Technical Area 2: large scale manufacturing of cell types. Technical Area 3: organ biofabrication and testing for safety and efficacy.  Performers are encourages to explore multiple methods for achieving the goals of each technical area.
  • Proposers’ Day (hybrid): May 7, 2024, New Orleans, LA
    • If you are interested in attending in person, RIO may be able to help provide travel funds. Please contact Lisa Nanstad (lisa.nanstad@colorado.edu)
    • Register Here  (in-person registration closes on April 30, 2024, 12 pm CST; virtual registration closes May 3, 2024, on May 3, 4 pm CST)
  • Abstract Deadline: May 28, 2024, 9 pm EDT
  • Proposal (by invitation only) Deadline: July 8, 2024, 5 pm EDT
  • Ask a Question: https://solutions.arpa-h.gov/Ask-A-Question/
  • PRINT Teaming Page:https://arpa-h.gov/research-and-funding/programs/print/teaming
  • Precision Surgical Interventions (PSI) Broad Agency Announcement
  • Goal: A new program of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), Precision Surgical Interventions (PSI) aims to help all surgical procedures reach their intended goal with no errors and no need for re-operation. The program will advance solutions for two major surgical problems: tumor edge visualization and critical anatomy visualization. ARPA-H expects that applications will represent different fields with knowledge of oncology, surgery, imaging technology and others to enhance the visualization needs of surgeons and improve patient.  See PSI FAQs for more information.
  • Program Manager:Ileana Hancu, PhD
  • Submission Process:
    1. Due 9/21 by 12 pm EDT: Abstracts (optional): Abstracts are not required for submission of a full proposal but are encouraged. More information will be available in mid-August 2023 when the BAA is released. We expect abstracts will be due in mid-September 2023.
    2. Due 11/16 by 5 pm EST: Full Proposals

    Learn More

    • Goal: What if we could make our joints heal themselves? NITRO aims to address current issues surrounding osteoarthritis treatment by developing new ways of helping the human body repair its own joints.  Focus is on three technical areas: (1) injectable bone regeneratives; (2) injectable cartilage regeneratives; and (3) replacement joints built from human cells. 
    • VIew Full NITRO Funding Announcement (BAA)
    • NITRO Proposers’ Day Recording
    • Program Manager: Ross Uhrich, DMD, MBA
    • Submission Process:
      • Abstracts (optional):
        • While welcome, abstracts are not required for submission of a full proposal. Abstracts can be submitted through the Abstract Submission Portal by June 23, 2023, by 5 pm EDT. 
      • Full proposals (required):

    Learn More

    • Goal: Proposals should investigate unconventional approaches and challenge accepted assumptions to enable leaps forward. Also encourages concepts to advance the objectives of the Cancer Moonshot. Proposals should fall within one of four areas: Health Sciences Futures, Scalable Solutions, Proactive Health, and Resilient Systems. NIH will review abstracts on a rolling basis and the sooner they are submitted, the more competitive they may be.
    • ARPA-H office directors Jennifer Roberts (Resilient Systems) and Amy Jenkins (Health Science Futures) will coordinate this open-office call. 
    • Submission Process: Submit abstracts through https://ecps.nih.gov
    • Submission Deadline: March 14, 2024, 1pm MT
    • Awards: Multiple anticipated
    • Open BAA Proposers’ Day Event Recording (April 4, 2023)
    • IMPORTANT: Open BAA to transition to Mission-Office-specific Innovation Solutions Opening (ISOs) March 14. ARPA-H will be closing the current Open BAA on March 14. Submissions received before this date will still be reviewed according to the current process. ARPA-H now encourages individuals to submit to the Mission Office-specific ISO, which will be posted on SAM.gov by March 15. More information about submitting to the Mission Office-specific ISOs  can be found on the Office-wide Innovation Solutions Opening page on SAM.gov. 

    Learn More

    CU Boulder Support

    The Research & Innovation Office coordinates with campus units, research leaders and others to provide specialized support and guidance to ARPA-H investigators and teams. Please contact Lisa Nanstad (lisa.nanstad@colorado.edu), who will coordinate to provide you this support.

    • Make a presentation to your group on ARPA-H opportunities
    • Advice, guidance and examples from ARPA-funded PIs
    • Research Development (RD) comprehensive pre-award support
      • funding and support to attend a Proposers’ Day event
      • concept development
      • abstract and proposal development (including editing and graphics support)
      • RFP requirements checklists
      • team development and coordination, support in finding collaborators and resources
      • coordination with other campus units, other CU campuses, and external collaborators
    • Office of Contracts & Grants (OCG) administrative support, including budget development for inclusion in Cost Proposals, for Rough Order of Magnitude estimates, application instruction compliance and collection of subcontract materials
    • Program Management Office (PMO) support on integrated submission strategies and post award project management advice and guidance resourcing
    • Venture Partners (VP) support on technology transfer and commercialization
    • Assistance with human subjects and other regulatory requirements
    • Assistance in identifying and describing research resources and instrumentation

    Upcoming Events

    Check back here or keep an eye on the RIO Bulletin for event updates.

    Resources

    ARPA-H Focus Areas

    Health Science – Focused on new tools, technologies, and platforms. Disease-agnostic approaches are encouraged but not required.

    • Novel molecular platforms to modulate host systems, reach targets with spatial and temporal precision, and mitigate off-target effects
    • Microbial cellular engineering
    • Gene, cell, tissue, and organ replacement for accessible personal interventions
    • AI-enabled, empirically validated physiological models
    • Miniaturization of complex hardware

    Scalable Solutions – Focused on access and affordability challenges:

    • Treatments that adapt to pediatric patient development
    • Manufacturing to reduce cost, speed production, and eliminate supply chain risk
    • Standardization, automation, and democratization of complex procedures
    • Methods to enhance rural or low-resource delivery
    • Reduce or eliminate health disparities
    • Diagnose and treat rare diseases wherever patients are

    Proactive Health – Focused on reducing the need for medical intervention:

    • Vaccine/therapy to reduce disease spread of disease and eliminate risk factors
    • Reduce disparities, especially in mental health, substance use, maternal morbidity and mortality, and chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease
    • Measure, analyze, and enhance health-promoting activities, including aging independently
    • Injury/stress recovery, including regenerating brain tissue after trauma or stroke to end paralysis and cognitive loss
    • Non-invasively characterizing brain and other deep tissue and organ health
    • Machine-enhanced computational models to predict changes in health status, reduce medical errors, and improve clinical settings

    Resilient Systems – Focused on improving reliability in crises such as pandemics, social disruption, climate change, molecular disturbances, and economic instability:

    • Engineer resilient tissues, microbiomes, and biophysical systems
    • Rapidly integrate off-the-shelf solutions, decision tools, and adapt supply chains, manufacturing, logistics, and workforces in emergencies
    • Protect, secure, integrate, analyze, communicate, and present health data
    • Use homes, community centers, pharmacies, and other accessible locations for clinical trials, to diversify participation and integrate end-user feedback into designs
    • Build trust in healthcare system and distribute high-quality guidance
    • Real-time tracking of health outcomes, performance of interventions, especially for underserved communities
    • Health information, consent, data reuse, biosecurity, band potential unintended consequences

    Contact

       cubarpa-h@colorado.edu.
       Lisa Nanstad, Research Development Strategist, RIO, lisa.nanstad@colorado.edu.

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