Biden signs ARPA-H into law new $1 billion health research agency modeled on DARPA

President Biden signs legislation creating the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), a new $1 billion federal health research agency modeled on DARPA, the agency that created the internet, stealth aircraft, and GPS. Biden first proposed ARPA-H in his 2021 address to Congress and repeated the call in his 2022 State of the Union. ARPA-H is designed to fund high-risk, high-reward health research that traditional NIH grant processes would not support, focusing on cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, mental illness, and infectious diseases. It becomes operational in 2022 with Renee Wegrzyn as its first director, reporting directly to the HHS Secretary.