New ARPA-H Research Programs and Initiatives (Updated 7/13/26)

NEW ARPA-H RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES

Investigators planning to apply to ARPA-H must notify the CAO Office ‘as early as possible’ by contacting Research Program Manager Ruchi Chauhan, PhD (rchauhan@bidmc.harvard.edu).

Important note: ARPA H submissions are competitive at the institutional level and may require coordination through the CAO Office. In addition, ARPA H applications are highly competitive, and proposals are most successful when developed by multi partner team with required expertise. The CAO Office may help navigate BIDMC/BILH resources to support your submission.

We highly recommend joining the “Proposer’s Day” as it is a great way to learn more about this opportunity, and connect with the ARPA-H Program Manager, and other teaming opportunities.

In addition, please visit the link provided for program of your interest. Current open programs and initiative are listed below -

Programs Portfolio

REST (Restorative and health-Enhancing Sleep Time) program will advance two technical areas: 1) measure and diagnose sleep quality at home with clinical fidelity and 2) control and treat sleep problems by developing non-invasive, closed-loop systems with real-time interventions throughout the night. Together, these components are intended to:
Define sleep quality by identifying the physiological features of sleep that predict meaningful health outcomes. Measure those features accurately in home environments rather than only in specialized sleep laboratories. Control sleep quality in real time through adaptive, personalized interventions that respond to an individual's physiology throughout the night.
If successful, REST could redefine sleep quality using health outcomes as the ground truth, enable clinically meaningful sleep assessment in the home, and create adaptive technologies that improve sleep in real time. Check details here - https://arpa-h.gov/explore-funding/programs/rest
Intelligent Generator of Research (IGoR) program aims to make biomedical research faster and more rigorous by eliminating inefficiencies and accelerating biomedical breakthroughs through a nimble, reliable, and interoperable research ecosystem for the 21-st century. The soluation will aim four technical areas for which performers must develop: 1) mechanistic disease models that encode causal biological relationships across scales, 2) an AI orchestration layer that identifies knowledge gaps and designs optimal experiments, 3) a layered protocol architecture that enables any qualified laboratory to execute the same experiment reproducibly, and 4) a distributed marketplace of validated laboratories that execute standardized protocols and return gold-standard data. Program details are here - https://arpa-h.gov/explore-funding/programs/igor
HEARING (Hearing Enhancement through ARtificially Intelligent NeurotechnoloGy) program will advance three technical areas: intracortical device(s), dynamic sound modulation, and auditory read & write algorithms. Together, these components are intended to: 1) Adjust sound based on what the listener wants to hear, rather than just what is loudest. 2) Reduce background noise in real time in complex, real-world environments. 3) Fill in missing sound information so that speech becomes clearer and listening becomes more effortless. Please visit link https://arpa-h.gov/explore-funding/programs/hearing for program details.

Initiatives and Sprints

Brain Repair of Any Injured Neural Structure (BRAINS) Exploratory Topic (ET) is the first effort to generate graftable precursor tissues for multiple parts of the brain. The BRAINS ET approach will address a wide range of disabilities caused by many forms of brain damage, including aging, congenital diseases, strokes, injuries, tumors, and infections. Using natural brain development as a guide, BRAINS is focused on two technical areas, both essential for later steps in repairing damaged brain tissue with working tissue: Technical area 1: teams will design developmental mimicking or tissue engineering methods capable of generating precursor tissue for a part of the brain other than neocortex. 
Technical area 2: teams will provide proof-of-concept for surgical engraftment into adult brains of non-human fetal precursor tissues for their selected brain area. Check details here https://arpa-h.gov/explore-funding/initiatives-and-sprints/brains
Technology InteGrator and AcceleratoR (TIGAR) Exploratory Topic (ET) is an ARPA-H initiative to accelerate research and overcome the current barriers to preserving complex human tissues. TIGAR aims to rapidly evaluate early-stage, high-risk preservation technologies and explore what is possible to stabilize tissues across different temperature ranges, store them for longer periods, and rapidly restore them to a functional state after storage. Check for the information on link: https://arpa-h.gov/explore-funding/initiatives-and-sprints/tigar

ARPA-H Mission Office Innovative Solution Openings (ISO) provide a way to seek funds for individual research projects that fall outside the scope of an ARPA-H program or initiative, but that still aligns with an ARPA-H research focus areas. These are accepted on a rolling basis. You must follow 3 things:
1. Review the ARPA-H ‘Program Portfolio’ and ‘Initiatives & Sprints’ to ensure your idea falls outside the scope of existing programs.
2. Review the solicitations of the four ISOs linked below to determine which research focus area is the best fit for your idea.
  - Health Science Futures Office ISO (ARPA-H-SOL-24-104): Research that removes scientific and technological limitations that stymie progress towards the health care of the future.
  - Proactive Health Office ISO (ARPA-H-SOL-24-106): Research that focuses on preventative programs that reduce the likelihood that people become patients.
  - Resilient Systems Office ISO (ARPA-H-SOL-24-103): Research that builds robust and integrated health care systems.
  - Scalable Solutions Office ISO (ARPA-H-SOL-24-105): Research that addresses challenges to geography, distribution, manufacturing, data and information, and economies to promote equitable solutions.
3. Submit a brief Solution Summary outlining the key features, goals, and the potential impact of a proposed solution or project. Summaries are required and proposers must receive written feedback from ARPA-H, before submitting a full proposal.