Thursday, July 17, 2025 | 2 minutes, or ~120 heartbeats    

ARPA-H Launches Bold Program Focused on Restoring Brain Function 

What’s happening? ARPA-H has launched a new program, FRONT, with a unique approach to accelerating better health outcomes. 

Out in FRONT. The FRONT program, or Functional Repair of Neocortical Tissue, aims to use cutting-edge neurodevelopmental principles and stem cell technology to regenerate brain tissue and restore function. 

Why it’s needed: The neocortex, the largest part of the brain, is critical for sensory perception, motor control, and decision-making. Damage to this area—due to conditions like stroke, traumatic injury, or neurodegeneration, such as Alzheimer's disease—has long led to irreversible damage.

From the Program Manager: “No technology exists to repair damaged tissue and fully restore lost function,” said Jean Hebert, Ph.D., FRONT’s Program Manager. "This will enable millions of individuals with what is currently considered permanent brain damage to regain lost functions, such as motor control, vision, and speech."

How to engage: For more information about the FRONT program, including solicitation details and Proposers’ Day registration, visit the FRONT program page.

Take a Ride to the Future of Care with PARADIGM!

Join ARPA-H Program Manager Bon Ku, M.D., MPP for a walk-through of PARADIGM’s prototype technology -- essentially a “hospital on wheels.”

Our PARADIGM program asks, what if we could deliver advanced hospital-level care to every rural county in America? So instead of patients having to travel far distances to get hospital-level care, PARADIGM aims to bring that care directly to them.

PARADIGM is just getting started. Watch the video on YouTube and visit PARADIGM’s program page to learn more. 

Elsewhere in the ARPAsphere:

• TALKING LONGEVITY WITH ARPA-H: ARPA-H Program Manager Andrew Brack, Ph.D. sat down with the H-SPAN podcast to talk about his program, PROSPR, and his unique journey that led him to the longevity world and what PROSPR is doing to move the longevity and healthspan industry forward. Listen on H-SPAN’s website or on Spotify.

• ARPA-H IS HEADING BACK TO DEF CON! We will be there with DARPA to announce the winners of the AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC)! AIxCC is a two-year competition that brings together the best and brightest in AI and cybersecurity to safeguard the software critical to all America, including in health care. Cumulative prizes total $29.5 million to teams with the best systems. Learn more about the competition at the AIxCC’s website.

You received this email because you expressed an interest in ARPA-H. If you are not interested in receiving intermittent emails with ARPA-H news and events, please unsubscribe below.

Connect with us.

Interested in leading biomedical research that could change the world? Learn more at arpa-h.gov.

Note: HubSpot may collect geolocation data and time zone; IP address, time, and date of signup and opt-in confirmation.