Illinois selected as spoke for ARPA-H Investor Catalyst Hub

Nationwide network aims to accelerate innovative health solutions

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has been selected to join a growing network of experts across the country aligned with the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H)’s objectives of improving health outcomes for all. As a spoke for the ARPA-H Investor Catalyst Hub, Illinois will contribute toward speeding the transition of innovative ideas into practical, accessible health care solutions. 

“Illinois’ innovative, interdisciplinary approach to health is perfectly matched with ARPA-H,” said Susan Martinis, Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation at Illinois. “Our selection into the Investor Catalyst network reflects our university’s breadth of research excellence, interdisciplinary culture, and meaningful and well-established relationships with our clinical partners, and offers new opportunities for Illinois to drive real change and impact in health.”

Based in the greater Boston area, the Investor Catalyst Hub is one of three regional hubs anchoring ARPANET-H, a national health innovation network. The Customer Experience Hub, based in Dallas, TX, and the Investor Catalyst Hub are each supported by a consortium with a nationwide network of spokes to bring together the nation’s voices, resources, and needs. 

The Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute (IHSI) has led Illinois’ efforts to respond to the mission of the recently established ARPA-H and will serve as the point of contact and driver of Investor Catalyst Hub initiatives.

“As an interdisciplinary research unit at Illinois dedicated to advancing the health sciences, technologies, and innovations across our campus, IHSI is a resource to faculty, researchers, staff, and students who seek to build relationships with key clinical, community, and industry partners. By being a campus point of contact for this new ARPA-H Investor Catalyst Hub, we dramatically expand our connections and network reach with other potential partners across the country, and we look forward to working with teams to advance their work in addressing some of the greatest challenges in health and health care,” said Stephen Boppart, Interim Director of IHSI.

As a spoke for the Investor Catalyst Hub, Illinois receives several benefits, including potential funding and networking opportunities with consortium members, government, and other stakeholders. Illinois will also have increased access to resources and the opportunity to offer insights into the ARPA-H challenge areas, problem identification, and priorities.

Each selected spoke provides unique capabilities complementary to its associated hub. With its Research Park, engineering expertise, interdisciplinary collaboration, rural and state-wide networks, and strong partnerships, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign offers a rich ecosystem to drive health innovation.

Boppart is enthusiastic about what the future might bring.

“ARPA-H has changed and charged our national approach to solving problems in health and healthcare by promoting high-risk high-reward paradigm-shifting thinking, and by providing the needed resources for end-to-end solutions that will result in impact. They are not focusing on research, but rather innovations with endpoints and deliverables that are expected to change the standard-of-care, the way we deliver care, and to make real differences in peoples’ lives. This charge to improve our lives has also always been Illinois’ land-grant mission, and we are thrilled to now be a part of a larger network to bring about this change.”