In February, the ATS Executive Committee met with Dr. Renee Wegrzyn, director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to discuss research opportunities to address cross-cutting priorities in pulmonology, critical care and sleep medicine.
ARPA-H is a newly created agency at NIH that is envisioned to support “high potential, high impact” research beyond what is traditionally funded by the NIH. Dr. Wegrzyn was appointed director of ARPA-H by President Biden in September2022. Dr. Wegrzyn, a scientist with professional experience working for two of the institutions that inspired the creation of ARPA-H – the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) – is responsible for driving the agency’s nascent research portfolio and associated budget.
In FY 2023, Congress authorized ARPA-H as an autonomous agency within the NIH with an initial budget of $1.5 billion. The ATS will continue to work with ARPA-H staff to explore research proposals that are a priority for the pulmonary, critical care and sleep community.