Now in its third year, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) presents both opportunities and challenges for the scientific community. Lewis-Burke provides tailored, strategic support for its clients across sectors to help organizations influence the agency’s directions and secure funding for high-risk, high-reward research projects. As ARPA-H hired its inaugural leadership, mission officer directors, and program managers, Lewis-Burke facilitated introductions to key staff and coached clients on how to effectively present their capabilities, seed ideas for new initiatives, and position themselves for future opportunities. Lewis-Burke worked with both research leaders and individual faculty at universities to help align proposals with ARPA-H’s explicit and implicit expectations for success. Lewis-Burke used its network of contacts and deep agency expertise to ensure clients had the most up-to-date intelligence and informed forecasts of future trends and programs, further giving them an edge in competing for funding. Concurrently, Lewis-Burke has worked to bolster congressional support for ARPA-H, through advocacy for increased topline funding for the agency, specific support for key components of the agency that benefit clients, and protection of the agency’s interests in harmful structural reform conversations. Lewis-Burke clients have had remarkable success in navigating ARPA-H, with several organizations already securing multimillion dollar research and management awards and many more positioned as potential future performers through their involvement with the agency’s health innovation network.
