ARPA-H made its final hub location decision, selecting the historic Bowen Building in downtown Washington, D.C. as the site for its Stakeholder & Operations hub.
Why is this important? The new space will allow federal staff and contractors to work in one location, enhancing staff's ability to manage programs and coordinate with federal partners—such as Congress, Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Administration. Since the agency was authorized in March 2022, much of ARPA-H's D.C. staff has been working remotely or from temporary offices.
Located a few blocks from the White House, the final hub site selection comes less than nine months after the agency announced its intent to establish hubs in three geographic locations across the country—a requirement that was Congressionally mandated as part of the agency's original authorization.
In September, ARPA-H announced the location of the first two ARPA-H hubs—the Customer Experience Hub in Dallas, Texas and Investor Catalyst Hub in Cambridge, Massachusetts—as part of the newly established ARPANET-H Health Innovation Network.
What is ARPANET-H again? Inspired by "ARPANET"—DARPA's groundbreaking computer network that led to today's internet—ARPANET-H is the agency's nationwide network to connect people, innovators, and institutions across the country. In addition to the Stakeholder & Operations hub, ARPANET-H includes:
- The Customer Experience Hub helps put people at the center of ARPA-H programs and projects. The hub incorporates human-centered and design-thinking principles into ARPA-H initiatives, including reaching patient populations and engaging with providers.
- The Investor Catalyst Hub is focused on commercializing technologies, understanding market dynamics, and providing business support to speed the transition of innovative ideas into practical, accessible solutions.
Both the Customer Experience and Investor Catalyst hubs utilize a "hub-and-spoke" model, establishing a network of partners to help create efficiencies that could not otherwise be achieved when building and testing new technologies. The Stakeholder & Operations Hub, however, will not include a spoke network and will be managed directly by ARPA-H staff.
What's next? Whether you work in government, industry, academia or elsewhere in the health ecosystem, get plugged in to ARPANET-H by applying to become a spoke to the either the Investor Catalyst or Customer Experience hub.
Spokes can be from anywhere in the country and harness a broad range of expertise and community voices to support the diverse set of ARPA-H programs. Visit the ARPANET-H webpage to learn more about the health innovation network.