The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) is a health innovation agency within HHS created in 2022 to accelerate high‑impact, high‑risk biomedical breakthroughs. It was formally authorized by Congress and signed into law on March 15, 2022. Its mission is to fund pivotal, high‑risk/high‑reward technologies that traditional research or commercial pathways struggle to deliver—mirroring the DARPA model but focused on health. ARPA‑H aims to transform areas such as disease prevention, diagnostics, therapeutics, clinical trials, bioengineering, and health systems innovation.
Latest News
ARPA-H awards up to $135.7M to illuminate the body’s hidden highway – The LIGHT program taps the lymphatic system, a crucial but invisible network linked to rare and hidden diseases, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases 1/20/26 – announced the research and development teams selected to carry out the Lymphatic Imaging, Genomics, and pHenotyping Technologies (LIGHT) program—a historic investment in lymphatics research of up to $135.7M over 5 years. These teams will develop the first comprehensive diagnostic toolkit to allow healthcare providers to detect problems with the lymphatic system earlier than existing methods, as part of a routine physical exam.
ARPA-H announces $50M to expand pediatric care across the country – More than 200 pediatric care centers nationwide, from rural towns to large cities, will link data and knowledge to dramatically improve children’s health. 1/14/26 – announced $50 million to scale a national pediatric data and knowledge network to improve health outcomes for children with complex diseases—starting with pediatric brain cancer. The effort, called Pediatric Care eXpansion (PCX), will connect more than 200 pediatric hospitals and care centers to securely exchange clinical and research data across the institutions—so clinicians can act on a more complete, usable picture of a child’s care. Now, no longer where a child lives is a determinant of health: Connecting these centers gives every child—from rural Oklahoma to downtown Philadelphia—the same shot at the right diagnosis and treatment.
ARPA-H to revolutionize cardiovascular disease management with clinical agentic AI – Agency to work toward first FDA authorized autonomous agentic system that can provide high-quality specialty care directly to patients. 1/13/26 – announced a new research and development funding opportunity through its Agentic AI-Enabled Cardiovascular Care Transformation (ADVOCATE) program. This program aims to develop the first FDA-authorized, agentic artificial intelligence (AI) technology that can provide 24/7 specialty care for the deadliest chronic disease in the United States. This technology could serve as a clinician extender that patients engage with at all times, keeps a close eye on their heart health, and provides access to personalized information and actions, all of which can help them live long and well with advanced heart disease.
ARPA-H awards teams set to bioprint universally matched organs on demand – PRINT program to eliminate chronic organ shortages, lengthy wait lists, and lifelong medications. 1/12/26 – announced the research and development teams receiving awards from its Personalized Regenerative Immunocompetent Nanotechnology Tissue (PRINT) program. PRINT will use state-of-the-art bioprinting technology and a regenerative medicine approach to 3D-print personalized, on-demand human organs that do not require immunosuppressive drugs. The goal is to use either a patient’s own cells or cells from a biobank to quickly – within hours – produce immune-matched replacement organs, such as kidneys, hearts, and livers.