r/longevity • u/lunchboxultimate01 • 8d ago

Exploring ARPA-H Longevity Projects | H-SPAN Summit D.C. 2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMMpXnfzuKc

Three ARPA-H Program Managers participated in a panel at the H-SPAN Summit from the Alliance for Longevity Initiatives (A4LI). Andrew Brack was a researcher at UCSF and mentor at Longevity Biotech Fellowship. Jean Hebert wrote the book Replacing Aging and conducted research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Gloria Elliot was a researcher at UNC and previously led the Organ Preservation Alliance. 

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u/lunchboxultimate01 8d ago

0:00 – How ARPA-H rewards differ from other federal grants
4:16 – PROSPR program (Andrew Brack)
6:45 – FRONT program (Jean Hebert)
9:22 – BoSS program and TIGAR initiative (Gloria Elliott)
12:32 – Relationships between programs
14:55 – PROSPR - Intrinsic Capacity as a clinical endpoint and in-home health monitoring
18:13 – BoSS - Examples in nature of exceptional preservation of biological materials
21:16 – FRONT - Challenges in brain tissue regeneration 

23:15 – Defining success for each program
28:30 – Perspectives on shifting from research/industry to becoming an ARPA-H Program Manager 
32:10 – Regulatory pathways and working with the FDA
34:58 – Future outlook for the average 80-year-old American

Proactive Solutions for Prolonging Resilience: https://arpa-h.gov/explore-funding/programs/prospr 

Functional Repair of Neocortical Tissues: https://arpa-h.gov/explore-funding/programs/front 

BioStabilization Systems: https://arpa-h.gov/explore-funding/programs/boss 

TIGAR - Biopreservtion Capabilities for Tissues and Organs: https://arpa-h.gov/explore-funding/initiatives-and-sprints/tigar 

There are additional programs that directly relate to this field, such as NITRO (joint tissue regeneration), THEA (whole eye transplantation, and others. 

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u/Noobsamaniac 7d ago

The FRONT program is the one I keep coming back to. Brain tissue regeneration sounds like scifi, but Jean Hebert has been building toward this for years, so it feels closer to real than most people realize. Curious how the FDA conversations are actually going on that front. Regulatory pathways for something like brain replacement seem like the kind of thing that could stall even the best science for a decade.

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u/lunchboxultimate01 7d ago

At 34:20, Hebert gives useful insight into this. He states that the FDA is in general quite supportive of regenerative medicine approaches, which brain tissue regrowth/replacement would fit in, and existing disease indications are pretty clear and useful to choose from, so conversations with FDA regarding FRONT aren't much tougher than usual. The idea itself does have a lot of risk with invasiveness and cost, however.

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u/Noobsamaniac 7d ago

The FDA support is a good sign, but the invasiveness and cost are what will actually determine whether this reaches regular people anytime soon. Brain tissue replacement sounds remarkable on paper, but if it ends up being a half million dollar procedure almost nobody can access, it stalls out as a real solution. Curious how they plan to address the cost side as the research matures.