ARPA-H to Be Within NIH but Independently Managed by HHS

After lobbying efforts from lawmakers and science advisors, the new, DARPA-like biomedical research agency will be a part of the National Institutes of Health, but its director will report directly to the secretary of Health and Human Services.

Natalia Mesa, PhD

| 3 min read

HHS Hubert H. Humphrey Building

Carol M. Highsmith

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Following a lengthy deliberation process, US health secretary Xavier Becerra determined on Wednesday (March 30) that a new high-risk, high-reward biomedical research agency known as ARPA-H will be part of the National Institutes of Health, STAT reports.

In early March, Congress passed the 2022 US spending bill, which included $1 billion of funds for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), an agency intended to accelerate the pace of biomedical research. The bill gave the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), of which the NIH is a part, the power to decide whether the new agency would be independent or part of the existing institution. This led to a lobbying campaign by several policymakers and researchers to separate the agency from the NIH, which they say is bureaucratic and slow-moving, STAT reported earlier this week.

Others advocated for ARPA-H to remain within the NIH, to help accelerate the ...

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Meet the Author

Natalia Mesa, PhD
Natalia Mesa was previously an intern at The Scientist and now freelances. She has a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s in biological sciences from Cornell University.
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