ARPA-H launches groundbreaking funding opportunity to improve clinical trials

ACTR aims to develop and test new efficient tools in virtual and real-world settings to address current challenges in clinical trials

The Advanced Research Project Agency for Health (ARPA-H), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), today announced a transformative funding opportunity through its Advancing Clinical Trial Readiness (ACTR) initiative. ACTR aims to revolutionize clinical trials by creating a nationwide, decentralized infrastructure that would enable 90% of eligible Americans to participate in clinical trials within 30 minutes of their home.

“Improving clinical trials is an ‘ARPA-Hard’ problem to solve and will take unprecedented collaboration from experts across the country,” said ARPA-H Director Renee Wegrzyn. “Through the integration of leading-edge technology, diverse expertise, and the power of the ARPANET-H Health Innovation Network, we’re poised to transform how we bring new health solutions to patients.” 

Clinical trials are vital for medical innovation, but they are severely hindered by high costs, lack of interoperability among electronic health records and other data systems, recruitment challenges, and regulatory complexities. ACTR aims to overcome these challenges by creating tools—and testing them through virtual and real-world demonstrations—that increase the speed and efficiency of conducting clinical trials while reducing costs and improving access and representation.

ACTR seeks proposals across three technical areas: automated data collection and standardization, trial participant identification and engagement, and decentralized data curation and auditing. 

“Improvements in trial administration—from data collection to recruitment—can dramatically accelerate delivery of innovations to patients,” said ACTR Portfolio Lead Etta Pisano. “By developing new clinical trial tools and testing them in real-world environments, ACTR aims to make unprecedented progress in creating a decentralized and on-demand infrastructure accessible to all Americans.”

ACTR launched in October 2023 as the first initiative within the ARPANET-H Health Innovation Network. Researchers, data analysts, and others with a stake in improving clinical trials provided feedback to the draft solicitation, which informed this funding opportunity. 

To learn more about ACTR, including how to submit a proposal to the solicitation, hybrid Proposers’ Day (New Brunswick, N.J.) registration, and how to state interest in forming an applicant team, visit the ACTR page on the Customer Experience website. 

Multiple awards under this solicitation are anticipated.  Awards will depend on the quality of the proposals received and the availability of funds.