October Featured Opportunities
Bone Marrow Failure Research Program (BMFRP)
Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP)
Breakthrough Award Levels 1 and 2 II
Clinical Research Extension Award II
Parkinson's Research Program (PRP)
Reconstructive Transplant Research Program (RTRP)
Investigator-initiated Research Award
Draft RPP Version 2 for the New Vaccine Platforms has been released, along with a completed Q&A document. A proposer’s conference and teaming event will be held on Tuesday, October 6 from 1 – 3 pm ET.
BARDA has identified 2 capabilities that a teaming group will need to have when they come together to propose:
Capability A – antigen expression technology
Capability B – vaccine carrier technology (e.g., formulation/adjuvant)
Pre-Solicitation Notice – Threat-Agnostic CBRN TherapeutICs (TACTIC)
Innovative Solutions Opening for Emerging Health Innovators (EHI)
The EHI Initiative will 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 for the following topic areas:
- Precision Control of Skin Inflammation without Systemic Exposure
- Internal Sensing and Targeted Control of Inflammation
- Deep Brain Stimulation for Mechanistic Sleep Exploration (Deep Sleep)
- CLEAR-MIND — Restoring the Brain’s Drainage and Immune Balance to Enable Healing After Injury
- Host-Pathway Interventions for Neurotropic Disease (HIND)
- Protecting Patient Data in Life Science AI
- Engineering DRT for Programmable DNA Synthesis as Emerging New Medical Countermeasures (MCM) Strategy
- Prevention of Lethal Alpha-gal Allergic Responses Caused by Tick Bites
- SMILE (Smart Microbiome-Informed Lesion & Enamel restoration)
- Ending Preventable Deaths from Ectopic Pregnancy Through First-Visit Diagnosis
- Transforming the Well-Woman Exam through Objective Data
- Innovations in Biotransport to Support Long-Term Preservation of Tissues and Organs
- Organs-in-Action: Next-Generation Human Tissue Platforms for Longevity, Disease, and Therapy Discovery
- Near real-time, Non-contact Determination of Sterility in Distributed Manufacturing Systems
- ICAT (In-Cavity Adjuvant Therapy): Implantable Systems for Local Cancer Control at the Resection Margin
- Causally-Grounded Alignment for Clinical Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools
Key Dates (subject to change):
October 13, 2026 - Proposers' Day Event (Virtual)
This is an optional event for the proposer community to learn more about this opportunity. For complete details about this event, download the Special Notice (ARPA-H-SN-26-161) from SAM.gov. Registration required by October 12, 2026.
October 30, 2026 (2:00PM ET) - Solution Summary due
Submitting a Solution Summary is required to move forward with this opportunity.
February 10, 2026 (2:00PM ET) - Full Proposal due
Accepting select applications based on meeting previous deadline requirements.
Unifying Imaging with Quantum Entanglement (UNIQUE)
UNIQUE will explore a fundamentally new imaging contrast for biomedicine, with quantum-derived observables. Rather than treating quantum correlations, decoherence, and positronium-sensitive interactions as artifacts or secondary physical effects, UNIQUE will establish whether they can serve as biologically meaningful signals that complement today’s anatomical, functional, and molecular imaging.
Key Dates (subject to change):
- Proposers' Day: October 16, 2026. Registration required by October 14.
- Solution Summary Due: October 30, 2026 at 11:59PM ET
A summary is required to submit a full proposal. - Full Proposal Due: December 15, 2026 at 11:59PM ET
After submission of a solution summary, proposers will either be encouraged or discouraged from submission of a full proposal. It is strongly recommended that only proposers who are encouraged to submit a full proposal do so.
Simulation-augmented, Real-time Platform Adaptive Seamless Trials (SURPASS)
The Simulation-augmented, Real-time Platform Adaptive Seamless Trials (SURPASS) program aims to modernize today’s clinical trials so they can evaluate drugs and biologics faster, at lower cost, and with fewer participants than conventional approaches.
Key Dates:
- Informational Webinar - October 15, 2026 (Register by Oct 12, 2026)
This is the first of two optional events for the proposer community to learn more about this opportunity, ask questions, and make connections. Registration required, see Special Notice ARPA-H-SN-26-164 for event details. - Proposers' Day Event - November 6, 2026 (Register by Oct 28, 2026)
This is the second of two optional events for the proposer community to learn more about this opportunity, ask questions, and make connections. Registration required, see Special Notice ARPA-H-SN-26-164 for event details. - Solution Summary Due - November 30, 2026
Submitting a summary is required to move forward with this opportunity. After submitting a summary, await feedback from ARPA-H before proceeding. - Proposal Due - January 22, 2027
Reference solicitation for full details.
Systems for Phenotypic Evaluation, Clinical Trajectories, Response, and Agency (SPECTRA)
The SPECTRA program takes a bold approach, anchoring autism research in objective, multi-factor measurement and computation rather than behavioral observation alone. The program is built on the hypothesis that nonlinear interactions among genetic, environmental, family, metabolic, immune, microbiome, and developmental factors shape distinct developmental, health, communication, and functional trajectories.
Key Dates & Deliverables:
These are target dates and subject to change. Please reference the solicitation documents for the most up-to-date information.
- Solution Summary Due: A Solution Summary is required to move forward with this opportunity. Due date varies by technical area.
- TA 4: October 18, 2026 (5:00PM ET)
Accepting submissions starting October 4, 2026 - TA 1 & TA 2: December 2, 2026 (5:00PM ET)
Accepting submissions starting November 18, 2026 - TA 3: January 18, 2027 (5:00PM ET)
Accepting submissions starting January 4, 2027 - Full Proposal Due: To Be Announced
Updated Due Date: October 16, 2026 Request for Project Information: Military Injury Cause Coding
MTEC has issued a Request for Project Information (RPI) focused on surveying the current state of developing, testing, and implementing artificial intelligence (AI)-driven processes aimed at improving electronic health record (EHR) injury cause coding without overburdening those responsible for documenting military injuries. The information gathered by this RPI will be shared with relevant interested government parties to help inform future development and procurement efforts.
Fiscal Year 2026 Multi-Topic Request for Project Proposals are still being accepted through October 30, 2026.
The NIH funds research to advance our understanding of and ability to diagnose, prevent, and treat Long COVID through different types of Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) studies. In December 2020, Congress appropriated $1.15 billion to the NIH to study the long-term effects of COVID-19, including Long COVID. In 2024, a subsequent appropriation of $662 million was funded to support ongoing and new areas of RECOVER research.
Current RECOVER Funding Opportunities:
Advanced Differential Diagnostics (ADD) (Vehicle TBD) - This forecasted opportunity seeks to fund host response-based testing to predict illness severity.
NSF X-Labs in this topic will focus on advancing AI technologies for physical systems, including advanced sensors, robotics, embodied systems, human-robot interfaces, and cyber-physical systems. The goal is to enable new forms of AI integration in complex real-world environments and drive breakthroughs across healthcare, national defense, emergency response, advanced manufacturing, and scientific discovery.
The FY27 Solicitation Schedule has been released.
Solicitations with October 21 Due Dates:
New World Screwworm Networked Detection, Identification, and Surveillance System
Noninvasive Detection and Localization of Occult Hemorrhage
Influence Benchmarks for AI Systems
Casualty Operations & Resource Prediction Software (CORPS)
TRIAGE-X: Autonomous Casualty Triage and Treatment in Chemically Contaminated Mass Casualty Events
ICU-in-a-Box: Autonomous Extracorporeal Multiple-Organ Support Therapies
News & Events
HJF Innovation Ecosystem (HIL) is excited to present new opportunities to foster collaboration, accelerate commercialization and expand access to the defense and civilian markets. To stay connected to the HIL, follow us on LinkedIn.
The Heroes of Military Medicine San Antonio Awards is a distinctive event celebrating the military medical community's unique accomplishments and dedicated efforts impacting the lives of active-duty military, veterans, and their families. This year’s awards will be held on Thursday, October 29 at the Witte Museum in San Antonio.