Brain Repair of Any Injured Neural Structure (BRAINS)
ARPA-H will fund multiple Other Transaction awards for proposals that develop solutions for repairing injured neural structures, with a mandatory solution-summary step and no funding from the summary alone.
⚑ ARPA-H solicitation using Other Transaction award types · mandatory solution summary required before full proposal · two intake groups with separate deadlines · no awards or funding from solution-summary submission alone
This is a biomedical/clinical brain-repair program centered on neural injury and therapeutic restoration, which is far outside IPPRA’s usual social-science portfolio. The team’s strengths are risk perception, warning communication, and policy/public-opinion research, so they would be unlikely to pursue this as a PI-level opportunity.
JUDGED AGAINST THE ROSTER'S PUBLICATION DOSSIER · GPT-5.4-MINI · 2026-07-07
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 80 strong | technical depth: substantial; funds applied research |
| IPPRA | 58 good | peripheral portfolio topic: public_health; social/behavioral work is minor; funds applied research; biomedical core — IPPRA health lane is communication/crisis/policy (capped); clinical-trial/biomedical core — IPPRA angle is policy/community (capped) |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 45 partial | funds applied research; prototyping/demonstration stage; deep-tech content |
Description
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) posts this funding opportunity in support of the Brain Repair of Any Injured Neural Structure (BRAINS) Exploratory Topic program. ARPA-H anticipates multiple awards with Other Transaction award types resulting from this announcement. Interested parties are invited to review the Innovative Solutions Opening (ISO) ARPA-H-SOL-26-148. Parties interested in submitting a proposal in response to the ARPA-H BRAINS ISO are required (mandatory) to submit a solution summary. No awards will be made, or funding provided as a result of a solution summary submission. Intake Group 1: Solution Summaries Due: July 9th, 2026, 5:00 PM Full Proposals Due: August 6th, 2026, 5:00PM Intake Group 2: Solution Summaries Due: January 7th, 2027, 5:00 PM Full Proposals Due: February 6th, 2027, 5:00PM
Eligibility
Applicant restrictions (federal contract). Set-aside: No Set aside used. Notice type: Solicitation. Organization: HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF / NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH / ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY FOR HEALTH (ARPA-H).
Apply
Proposal brief SEE AN EXAMPLE →
A one-page internal memo: fit assessment, submission requirements, document scaffold, and next steps dated back from the deadline — tailored to your project idea if you add one.
Proposal shell · HHS services agencies (SAMHSA / HRSA / CDC / ACF) conventions SEE AN HHS EXAMPLE →
Funder-faithful document skeletons — HHS services agencies (SAMHSA / HRSA / CDC / ACF)'s document set with section headings, page limits, reviewer guidance, and writing prompts; add a project idea to get [DRAFT] starter bullets. Download as .md for Word or Overleaf.