(ADAPT) ADvanced Analysis for Precision cancer Therapy
The ADvanced Analysis for Precision cancer Therapy (ADAPT) program aims to harness advanced technologies and a deep understanding of tumor biology to build cancer biomarkers. By tracking tumor changes before, during, and after treatment, clinicians can pinpoint alterations in tumor traits, enabling a more proactive response to cancer care.
A key feature of ADAPT will be to establish a central hub for clinicians and researchers to access data and resources. This repository will house algorithms, protocols, and evolving data on biomarkers and anti-cancer agents. These tools will allow clinicians to deliver truly adaptive and personalized cancer care.
Sprint for Women’s Health
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) launched the Sprint for Women’s Health on February 21, 2024, which commits $100 million towards transformative research and development in women’s health. The Sprint for Women’s Health’s new request for solutions (RFS) funding opportunity seeks unconventional approaches and innovative new avenues to push high-impact biomedical research forward to improve women’s health outcomes.
“The ARPA-H Sprint for Women's Health intends to fundamentally change the trajectory of women’s health care and radically accelerate the next generation of discoveries, ranging from early laboratory proofs of concept that may impact future generations to products that are ready to be commercialized and launched, to start improving women’s health today,” said ARPA-H Director Renee Wegrzyn, Ph.D. “To succeed, we need innovative ideas from a diverse mix of visionaries from across the country and across sectors to improve the lives of millions of women, regardless of demographics, socioeconomic status, or geography.”
The ARPA-H Sprint for Women’s Health will use two funding tracks to foster transformative research and development efforts. One for early-stage research, or “Spark” solutions and the other for later-stage development, or “LaunchPad” solutions. With these two tracks, ARPA-H seeks to lower barriers of entry for a diverse range of participants, with a simplified submission process of a solution summary followed by a pitch session.
ARPA-H is seeking proposals across six women’s health topic areas, including:
- Women’s Health at Home
- Preserving Ovarian Health Through Mid-Life to Prevent Disease
- ARTEMIS – Advancing Research Through Enhanced Models for Investigating the Influence of Sex Differences on Health Outcomes
- Modulating Women’s Brain Health Via Lymphatic Targeting
- Objective and Quantitative Measurement of Chronic Pain in Women
- Wild Card: Revolutionary Breakthroughs in Women’s Health
Resilient Systems Office: Office-Wide Innovative Solutions Opening for Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health
This ISO seeks solution summary and proposal submissions for projects that fall within the scope of the ARPA-H mission Resilient Systems Office (RSO). RSO’s interest areas will address systemic challenges across the healthcare and public health landscape by investing in cutting-edge technologies that address long-standing gaps in the quality, efficacy, and consistent availability of care.
Aspects of today’s health and public health systems remain fragile due to systemic challenges, which include rising healthcare costs, inadequate healthcare coverage for significant populations, outdated infrastructure, and health disparities among different demographic groups. Acute challenges, such as hospital closures, supply chain disruptions, staffing shortages, cyber-attacks, public health crises, and the emergence of new diseases, further exacerbate existing fragilities, making it more difficult to maintain high standards of care. These challenges are compounded by the fact that systems remain fragmented, hindering the ability to gain comprehensive insights, make informed decisions, develop tailored interventions, and share critical health information between stakeholders.
RSO seeks solution summaries and proposals that drive innovations to enhance the adaptability, reliability, and interoperability of the health ecosystem. Of interest are innovations that foster flexibility and enable adaptation to system stressors, so that people and systems remain well-positioned to deliver high-quality care and improve health outcomes. The following interest areas categorize the ground-breaking research we seek to support:
- Sociotechnical System Innovation
- Health Ecosystem Integration
- Adaptive & Antifragile Solutions
Health Science Futures: Office-Wide Innovative Solutions Opening for Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health
This ISO seeks solution summaries and proposal submissions for projects that fall within the general scope of the ARPA-H Health Science Futures (HSF) mission office. HSF expands what is technically possible by developing approaches that will remove the scientific and technological limitations that stymie progress towards the healthcare of the future. HSF supports cutting-edge, often disease-agnostic research programs that have the potential for translational real-world change.
Considering the current healthcare challenges that we face today, the goal of achieving better health outcomes is a moving target that requires daring and adaptable solutions. HSF awardees will develop innovative technologies, tools, and platforms that can be applied to a broad range of diseases. The following interest areas define the ground-breaking research we seek to support:
- Breakthrough Technologies
- Transformative Tools
- Platform Systems
Scalable Solutions Office: Office-Wide Innovative Solutions Opening for Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health
This ISO seeks solution summaries and proposals for projects that fall within the general scope of the ARPA-H Scalable Solutions mission office. SSO expands what is technically possible by developing approaches that will leverage an interdisciplinary approach and collaborative networks to address challenges of geography, distribution, manufacturing, data and information, thereby improving health care access and affordability. In the United States, many communities and remote areas lack access to timely and quality health care, which leads to disparities in health outcomes for those populations. Bottlenecks during the manufacturing processes of products and health technologies also lead to delays and limited availability, preventing effective distribution of health care solutions to areas of need, especially in emergencies.
ARPA-H SSO seeks solutions to improve the scalability and affordability of health care solutions, bridge gaps in underserved areas, and extend remote access to expertise by developing location-specific interventions, telemedicine solutions, and mobile health clinics. Solutions should focus on rapid innovation and the use of partnerships, as well as flexible distribution networks and streamlined manufacturing processes. The following SSO interest areas categorize the ground-breaking solutions we seek to support:
- Scalable Technologies and Interventions
- Collaborative Distribution Networks
- Biomanufacturing Innovations
Proactive Health Office: Office-Wide Innovative Solutions Opening for Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health
Despite huge advances in the development of novel medical therapies, Americans still live with poor health outcomes and suffer from the ill-effects of disease. Current medical research and the medical delivery system in the United States focus primarily on the reactive treatment of illnesses, despite the fact that many diseases or their ill-effects are preventable.
The Proactive Health Office (PHO) at ARPA-H is seeking solutions to improve the healthspan and health outcomes of Americans prior to the onset of disease and/or the development of diminished quality of life from illness. Specifically, PHO hypothesizes that 1) population-level improvements in access to and uptake of disease prevention and wellness-promoting behaviors and 2) development of novel early-detection methods and prophylactic interventions could drastically improve the health of American throughout their lives, and 3) that system level innovations are required for delivery of proactive health effectively. Specific PHO interest areas include:
- Novel prevention, detection and prophylactic treatment methods for disease
- Population-level approaches to increase the adoption of prevention and wellness behaviors
- System innovation for the delivery of proactive health outcomes