ARPA-H Emerging Health Innovators (EHI) Initiative

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Emerging Health Innovators (EHI) initiative, solicitation ARPA-H-SOL-26-150, seeks to identify and engage early-career investigators to develop cutting-edge biomedical, health, and community-engaged research. This opportunity is open to researchers from academic, nonprofit, and industry organizations, provided the Principal Investigator is within eight years of completing their first terminal degree. The initiative covers 16 specific topic areas, including AI in life sciences, brain stimulation, and human tissue platforms. Awards are issued as Other Transaction (OT) agreements, which are not subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). The selection process is a two-step submission involving an initial anonymized Solution Summary and a subsequent Full Proposal for selected candidates. Successful awards have a total value not to exceed 1,050,000 dollars over a three-year period, consisting of a 24-month base period capped at 700,000 dollars and an optional 12-month Director's Award period capped at 350,000 dollars. Payments are structured as fixed payments triggered by the completion of 12 discrete, measurable milestones. Full proposals are evaluated based on technical merit, innovativeness, feasibility, alignment with the ARPA-H mission to accelerate health outcomes, and price reasonableness. Administrative requirements include mandatory registration in SAM.gov and the use of the ARPA-H Solutions site for all submissions. Proposers must adhere to strict formatting templates for technical and management proposals, milestone schedules, and national policy requirements, including disclosures regarding organizational conflicts of interest and research security. Performance is monitored through a formal inspection and acceptance process where the government reviews deliverables within 14 calendar days. The tentative award start date is June 30, 2027, with full proposals due by February 10, 2027.