Since President Biden first proposed the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), the health care advocacy community has been eager to learn more. Last month, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) hosted the first of many listening sessions on the proposed creation of ARPA-H.
The first session included individuals representing cancer, heart, lung, and blood disorders and environmental health. AACI Executive Director
Jennifer W. Pegher was among three representatives from the cancer community, along with former AACI president and new American Cancer Society (ACS) CEO,
Karen Knudsen, MBA, PhD, and National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) Chief of Community and Government Relations,
Danielle Leach. NIH Director
Francis Collins, MD, PhD, welcomed remarks from members of the biomedical research community; the session also included remarks from directors of individual NIH institutes, including
Norman E. Sharpless, MD (National Cancer Institute);
Gary H. Gibbons, MD (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute); and
Rick Woychik, PhD (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences).
In his opening remarks, Dr. Collins noted that ARPA-H would aim to launch high-risk, high-reward projects, potentially addressing gaps in NIH research.
Pegher stressed in her remarks that ARPA-H must be structured for success, and that the budget for such an agency should complement—not detract—from the NIH and NCI. She noted the potential for innovative and transformative technologies, such as multicancer early detection blood tests and potentially harnessing mRNA vaccines to fight cancer. Pegher highlighted the potential to advance cancer drug and biomarker development and the hope that ARPA-H can be a catalyst to quickly develop these and other emerging health care discoveries. She also highlighted the need to address health disparities with a goal of health equity.
Dr. Knudsen echoed Pegher’s call for additional funding that does not detract from NIH and NCI funding. She noted the contributions of ACS to research and stressed that ARPA-H must be designed and operated in a transparent and patient-centered manner that builds off of the existing research ecosystem rather than displacing it.
Recognizing the potential for ARPA-H to bolster research on recalcitrant cancers, including brain cancer, Leach said that the new agency could partner with the cancer research community to stimulate drug development and innovation. Other panelists, including
Suzanne Leous, chief policy officer of American Society of Hematology, asked that the budget supplement, not supplant, the NIH budget.
OSTP and NIH Listening Sessions