Overview of the DELPHI Program
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) has released a Draft Innovative Solutions Opening (ISO) for the Delphi program through its Resilient Systems Office (RSO). The draft announcement, ARPA-H-SOL-26-153, is intended to inform the research community about an upcoming funding opportunity and allow potential performers time to prepare for participation. Importantly, ARPA-H emphasizes that this draft ISO is not yet an invitation for solution summaries or proposals, and any submissions made in response to the draft will be disregarded.
The Delphi program reflects ARPA-H’s broader mission to catalyze transformative biomedical innovation. Specifically, the initiative aims to address the current lack of continuous, high-resolution biological insight that could help individuals and clinicians detect disease earlier, tailor treatments more effectively, and intervene before conditions worsen. By advancing next-generation biosensing technologies, the program seeks to enable individuals to better understand their bodies and support a new paradigm of real-time, data-driven health monitoring.
At its core, the Delphi program seeks to develop technologies capable of continuously monitoring biological signals such as hormones, cytokines, and drug levels data streams that are currently difficult to measure outside of clinical settings. According to the draft ISO, the absence of this information today contributes to preventable disease progression, missed opportunities for early intervention, and limited patient insight into their own physiology.
To overcome these limitations, ARPA-H proposes leveraging chiplets, a modular architecture used in advanced microelectronics systems. By applying chiplet technology to biosensing systems, Delphi aims to dramatically reduce the size, weight, and power (SWaP) requirements of biosensors while also lowering cost and improving accessibility. The program envisions the rapid development of modular wearable or ingestible sensors capable of monitoring a wide range of biological markers in real time. If successful, these technologies could support earlier detection of disease, enable continuous monitoring during recovery outside of clinical environments, and facilitate precision therapies that adjust treatment dynamically based on physiological signals.
The draft ISO outlines a solution summary–based submission process that allows ARPA-H to provide early feedback before proposers invest significant resources in preparing full proposals. Under this approach, prospective performers first submit a Solution Summary, after which ARPA-H reviews the concept and indicates whether submission of a full proposal is encouraged or discouraged. While proposers may submit a full proposal regardless of this feedback, ARPA-H advises that the government’s response should carry significant weight when deciding whether to proceed.
Key Dates
ARPA-H has identified several important milestones associated with the Delphi draft ISO:
- Proposer’s Day – March 27, 2026: ARPA-H will host an informational event designed to provide program details, encourage discussion, and facilitate teaming opportunities among potential performers.
- Solution Summaries Due – April 8, 2026 (5:00 PM ET): Prospective performers must submit a Solution Summary through the ARPA-H Solution Submission Portal.
- Full Proposals Due – May 13, 2026 (5:00 PM ET): Full proposals are due for proposers who choose to proceed following the Solution Summary phase.
Organizations planning to participate should note that registration with the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) and the ARPA-H submission portal is required and may take several business days to complete.
Regarding funding, ARPA-H anticipates making multiple awards using Other Transaction (OT) agreements, though the draft ISO does not yet specify the expected award size or period of performance. These details may be clarified when the final solicitation is released.
If realized, the technologies envisioned under Delphi could represent a major advance in preventive and personalized medicine. Continuous access to biological data could enable earlier disease detection, safer at-home recovery monitoring, and the development of closed-loop therapies that respond dynamically to a patient’s physiology. Such capabilities would empower both patients and clinicians with actionable insight, ultimately improving health outcomes and reducing the burden of preventable disease.
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