Last month, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra issued notice establishing the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) under the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Biden administration proposed the creation of ARPA-H to improve the U.S. government’s ability to speed up biomedical and health research. The agency will support high-risk, high-reward research to drive biomedical and health breakthroughs, a distinction between other government-funded health research that is often subject to thorough and lengthy bureaucratic processes.

Under fiscal year 2022 appropriations legislation, ARPA-H received $1 billion in funding. Secretary Becerra’s notice provides ARPA-H with a certain degree of autonomy outside of NIH but within the confines of HHS’ authority. The Director of ARPA-H will not be subject to the bureaucratic processes of NIH but will report directly to the HHS Secretary. According to Secretary Becerra, NIH will assist in the establishment of ARPA-H by providing human resources, payroll, and other administrative duties for the agency.

Impact on General Dentistry: The AGD continues to monitor developments related to the establishment of ARPA-H, an agency that has the potential to advance groundbreaking health research and developments that could transform the treatment of oral cancer and other diseases.