Restoring Brain Function: ARPA-H’s BRAINS Initiative
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) has launched the Brain Repair of Any Injured Neural Structure (BRAINS) initiative to address a major unmet need in neurological care: the lack of effective therapies to replace damaged or degenerated brain tissue and restore lost function. Brain damage caused by stroke, neurodegeneration, traumatic injury, tumors, congenital conditions, infections, and aging leaves tens of millions of Americans living with permanent disability. Current treatment options are largely limited to physical, psychological, and occupational therapies, which may help patients compensate for lost function but do not replace damaged brain tissue or fully restore independence.
Through BRAINS, ARPA-H aims to take the first technological steps toward regrowing normal, region-specific brain tissue in situ from transplanted precursor tissue. The solicitation encourages approaches that closely mimic natural precursor tissue and natural development, while allowing alternative strategies where proposers can make a compelling case that functional tissue can be produced, integrated with the brain, and function normally. The program is intended to catalyze rapid progress in technologies that could ultimately enable true functional restoration across multiple brain regions involved in movement, balance, mood, autonomic regulation, memory formation, and other essential functions.
BRAINS Breakdown
ARPA-H’s BRAINS initiative is structured as an 18-month Exploratory Topic with two intake groups. Each intake group will consist of two 9-month phases, with a down-select at the end of Phase I.
The program includes two Technical Areas (TAs):
TA1: Defining and Generating Precursor Tissue
TA1 teams will define and generate precursor tissue for any brain region other than the neocortex. This includes identifying cellular and extracellular components through omics and histology, establishing protocols for generating human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived precursor cells, and producing prototype precursor tissue with demonstrated similarity to natural precursor tissue.
TA2: Optimizing Surgical Engraftment of Precursor Tissue
TA2 teams will focus on proof-of-concept surgical engraftment into adult brains using preclinical animal models. Proposed work must address graft survival, vascularization, internal tissue structure, connectivity with relevant host brain areas, and functional integration. For TA2, teams are expected to use non-human fetal precursor tissue and demonstrate that grafted tissue vascularizes within 48 hours and survives for at least 21 days.
Teams must propose to address all milestones and metrics of either one TA or both. ARPA-H specifically excludes proposals that offer only incremental improvements, use human embryos or human fetal tissue, or do not address the objectives of the BRAINS Exploratory Topic.
Key Dates
- Questions and Answers due: June 22, 2026 at 5:00 PM ET.
- Questions and Answers session: June 24, 2026 from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM ET.
- Sidebar session: June 25, 2026 from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM ET.
- Intake Group 1 Solution Summaries due: July 9, 2026 at 5:00 PM ET.
- Intake Group 1 Full Proposals due: August 6, 2026 at 5:00 PM ET.
- Intake Group 2 Solution Summaries due: January 7, 2027 at 5:00 PM ET.
- Intake Group 2 Full Proposals due: February 6, 2027 at 5:00 PM ET.
Funding and Award Information
ARPA-H anticipates making multiple awards through Other Transaction (OT) Agreements. For this Exploratory Topic, ARPA-H anticipates Phase I awards of $500,000 per team per Technical Area, with the possibility of an additional $500,000 per team per Technical Area for Phase II. Each intake group is expected to run for 18 months from kickoff to completion, divided into two 9-month phases.
Eligible proposers include universities, nonprofit organizations, small businesses, and other than small businesses. ARPA-H states that early career investigators are preferred.
The Future of Functional Brain Repair
BRAINS represents an ambitious step toward a future where brain injury and degeneration may be treated through true tissue replacement rather than symptom management alone. By supporting the generation of region-specific precursor brain tissue and demonstrating proof-of-concept surgical engraftment in preclinical models, ARPA-H is working to lay the foundation for future clinical trials aimed at restoring lost neurological abilities and independence for patients affected by stroke, neurodegeneration, injury, tumors, congenital conditions, infections, and aging.
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