ARPA-H to focus on transformative change
New agency unlikely to tackle specific diseases, will have diversity, equity coded into its DNA
Congress has appropriated $1 billion for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health and is considering the president’s request for another $5 billion, but questions over how the new agency will be structured and where it will be located remain unanswered. The most important unknown is who will be put in charge of and given responsibility for setting ARPA-H’s priorities, creating its culture, and persuading Congress and the public to support its mission.
The House is slated to vote next week on legislation that would reverse the Biden administration’s decision to place ARPA-H within — but make it independent of — NIH. The ARPA-H Act (H.R. 5585), sponsored by Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), chair of the Energy & Commerce Committee’s health subcommittee, would make ARPA-H an independent entity in HHS. ...