Solicitation
ARPA-H Emerging Health Innovators (EHI) Initiative
Department of Health and Human Services · National Institutes of Health · Sol. ARPA-H-SOL-26-150
Due in 123 days
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AI summary Beta
Some details weren't available to this summary, so it may miss requirements. Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
ARPA-H (the federal health research agency) is funding early-career researchers to run 2-year health and biomedical research projects across 16 topic areas, including smart skin and internal inflammation sensors, deep brain stimulation for sleep, AI patient-data privacy, and cancer implants. It plans multiple Other Transaction (OT) agreements worth up to $1,050,000 each. The project lead must be within 8 years of finishing their first terminal degree; a short solution summary is due October 30, 2026 and full proposals on February 10, 2027.
Watch out for
- Project lead eligibility is strict. Only a researcher within 8 years of their first terminal degree can lead, so a company without such a person cannot bid, and ineligible submissions are rejected without review.
Proposal submissions from non-eligible proposers will be deemed non-conforming and
- Solution summary due soon. A solution summary is required before any full proposal and is due October 30, 2026, which is the real first deadline (SAM.gov shows only the February 2027 date).
Solution Summaries Due: October 30, 2026, 2:00 PM ET
- Deep biomedical R&D, not a services contract. Topics are lab-based science (preclinical models, devices, drugs, AI), so this only suits research organizations with the right scientists and facilities.
only solution summaries and full proposals in scope of the EHI TAs will be considered responsive to the ISO.
- Hard price caps and milestone-only payment. Pay is a fixed amount per accepted milestone, capped at $700,000 base and $350,000 option, and the option year may never be funded.
ARPA-H has established a maximum price of $700,000 for the base period and $350,000 for the option period.
- Base period cap stated two ways. The milestone schedule says the base ceiling is $750,000 in one place and $700,000 elsewhere; ask ARPA-H which number controls before pricing.
The controlling Base Period ceiling is $750,000 across all eight Base Period milestones.
- Blind solution summary can be rejected for identifying details. Naming the PI, organization or team in the 2-page body makes the submission non-conforming.
Failure to anonymize the solution summary may result in the submission being determined non-conforming.
- Required meetings and travel. You must budget for an annual in-person meeting (about 4 days) and one networking event or workshop per year for two people, on top of monthly virtual reviews.
an on-site EHI annual meeting for the project lead and one additional attendee.
- IP and publication limits. ARPA-H favors open-source style IP, wants software and data as deliverables, and requires review before you publish results.
strongly encourages IP rights to be aligned with open-source regimes.
- Heavy compliance paperwork. Research security disclosures, OCI statements, biosecurity and cybersecurity questions, IRB or IACUC plans and IP tables are all required in the full proposal.
Read from the notice and 8 attachments. 1 not read in full.
- EHI ISO 2026_ARPA-H-SOL-26-150_Amendment 1.pdf
- Attachment A_Solution Summary_Amendment 1.docx
- EHI Administrative FAQ Sep 25 2026.docx
- Attachment G_ARPA-H Model Other Transaction.docx
- Attachment C_Technical and Management Proposal.docx
- Attachment F_Administrative_National_Policy_Requirement.docx
- Attachment D_Task Description Document (TDD).docx
- Attachment E_Milestone_Payment_Schedule.docx
- Attachment B_Pitch Slides.pptx: .pptx files aren't read yet
Full brief
What they want
- A research proposal led by one early-career investigator (within 8 years of their first terminal degree) in one of 16 topic areas
- Topics 1-2: networked skin-surface and internal (injectable or ingestible) sensors and targeted control of inflammation
- Topics 3-5: deep brain stimulation to study sleep, restoring brain drainage and immune balance after injury, and host-pathway treatments for neurotropic disease such as rabies
- Topic 6 and 16: protecting patient data in life science AI models, and causally grounded alignment for clinical generative AI tools
- Topics 7-9: DNA synthesis enzymes (DRT) as medical countermeasures, preventing alpha-gal allergic reactions from tick bites, and microbiome-informed tooth enamel restoration
- Topics 10-15: ectopic pregnancy diagnosis, objective data for the well-woman exam, organ and tissue preservation, human tissue platforms, sterility sensing in manufacturing, and implantable systems for cancer control at the surgical margin
- A 24-month base project plus a plan for an optional 12-month Director's Award year
- Milestone-based work with quarterly milestones, monthly status meetings and an annual in-person meeting
- Contract type
- Multiple Other Transaction (OT) agreements with fixed-price milestone payments, not a standard FAR contract
- Period of performance
- 24-month base period (2 x 12 months) plus one 12-month option year called the Director's Award; tentative award start June 30, 2027
- Place of performance
- Not fixed in the ISO (SAM.gov lists DC, USA); all proposers and team members must be employed at a U.S. institution
- Estimated value
- Up to $1,050,000 per award: $700,000 base ($350,000 per year) plus $350,000 option year, including indirect costs
- Contract vehicle
- ARPA-H Innovative Solutions Opening (ISO) ARPA-H-SOL-26-150, submitted through the ARPA-H Solutions site
- How they'll choose
- Two steps. Step 1: a blind review of a 2-page solution summary that ends in an encourage or discourage letter. Step 2: full proposals are judged on their own merit, not against each other, on three criteria in descending order of importance. The Government may fund only the 24-month base or the base plus the option year.
- Offers due
- Solution summary: October 30, 2026, 2:00 PM ET (required first step). Questions due: February 3, 2027, 2:00 PM ET. Full proposal: February 10, 2027, 2:00 PM ET.
- How to submit
- ARPA-H Solutions site (solutions.arpa-h.gov); registration required and no other method is allowed. Questions go to EHI2026@ARPA-H.gov.
- Page limits
- Solution summary: 2 pages, not counting the cover sheet. Technical and Management Proposal: 8 pages (recommended 2 summary, 5 technical plan, 1 capabilities). Task Description Document, Milestone Payment Schedule and Administrative Requirements document have no page limit.
What they'll judge offers on
- Overall Scientific and Technical Merit (innovative, feasible, complete; IP and software choices that affect commercialization and open-source use may be considered)
- Potential Contribution and Relevance to the ARPA-H Mission
- Assessment of Proposed Cost/Price (reasonableness for the approach, task description document, milestones and outcomes)
What to include when you submit
- Pick only one topic area and identify it on the cover sheet; one solution summary and one full proposal per Project Lead
- Solution summary must be fully anonymized: no names of the PI, organization or team in items 1 to 3, identifying details only on the cover sheet
- Use the mandatory templates (Attachment A solution summary; C technical and management; D task description document; E milestone payment schedule; F administrative and national policy document)
- Full proposal also needs an official letter of support from the organization, and the proposal must stay valid at least 120 days
- Documents in .pdf, .docx or .doc, English, 8.5 x 11 pages, 1-inch margins, 12-point font
- Include IP assertions, OCI disclosure, research security forms (biosketch and current and pending support) and any human or animal subjects plans
- Budget must include travel for the annual in-person meeting and one networking event per year for the project lead plus one other person
- Mark proprietary pages "Proprietary" (not "Confidential")
You must have
- Project Lead must be an early-career investigator within 8 years of completing their first terminal degree (leaves, postdoc, residency and fellowship time can be excluded); postdocs and clinical trainees cannot lead
within 8 years after completion of their first terminal degree
- Proposals must be led by a single early-career investigator; no co-PIs
Proposals must be led by one (1) early-career investigator,
- All proposers and team members must be employed at a U.S. institution; non-U.S. entities are not accepted
All proposers and proposed team members must be employed at a U.S. institution, which includes those in U.S. states and territories.
- Active SAM.gov registration with a UEI when the proposal is submitted and throughout the award
All proposer organizations must have an active registration in SAM.gov at the time of proposal
- Government labs, FFRDCs and university affiliated research centers cannot receive funding or be on the team
Federally Funded Research and Development Centers, University Affiliated Research
- The ISO says prior ARPA-agency prime (project lead) awardees are not eligible; the FAQ says only those already selected for a pending ARPA-type award are disqualified
Proposers who have participated as a prime (project lead) on an award from any ARPA
- The concept must not already be funded or selected for negotiation elsewhere
- Subcontractor, vendor and consultant costs cannot exceed 30% of total value
Subcontractor, vendor, and consultant support cannot exceed 30% of the total value of the EHI effort.
- Human subjects research needs IRB review and a Federal-wide Assurance; animal research needs an Animal Welfare Assurance and IACUC approval before costs are incurred
Not in the notice text
- Full text of topic areas 9 to 16 was not available (the middle of the ISO was left out), so only their titles are summarized
- Attachment B pitch slides template could not be read, so any pitch or presentation step is unknown
- Middle of the model OT agreement (Attachment G) was left out, so intellectual property, data rights and publication terms are not fully known
- How many awards ARPA-H will make or total program funding
- Whether the ISO's prior-ARPA-prime ineligibility or the FAQ's narrower wording applies
- Which base period ceiling ($700,000 or $750,000) controls
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Key facts
- Response due
- Feb 10, 2027, 7:00 PM UTC
- Posted
- Sep 25, 2026
- Notice type
- Solicitation
- Solicitation
- ARPA-H-SOL-26-150
- Agency
- Department of Health and Human Services · National Institutes of Health
- Office
- Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (Arpa-H)
- Set-aside
- No Set aside used
- NAICS
- 541714
- Product/service code
- AN41
- Business type
- Engineering, architecture & research
- Place of performance
- DC, 20003
- Contracting contact
- EHI Program TeamEHI@arpa-h.gov
- Versions
- 2 (amended since first posted)
Before you respond
Full notice text from SAM.gov
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Emerging Health Innovators (EHI) aims to or seeks to ensure ARPA-H identifies and engages early career investigators. To achieve this goal, ARPA-H is soliciting proposals from these researchers and innovators and their organizations to develop cutting-edge biomedical, health, and community-engaged research and innovation. ARPA-H anticipates multiple Other Transaction awards resulting from this announcement Amendment 1: This amendment clarifies the number of submissions that may be submitted by each offeror. See section 2.4 of the ISO. It also updates the solution summary cover sheet and the FAQ.
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