ARPA-H Invests $144 Million to Crack the Code on Healthy Aging
April 3, 2026 · 2 min read
Arthur Griffin
What if aging itself were treatable? That is the premise behind ARPA-H's most ambitious longevity bet yet.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health announced seven research teams selected for its PROSPR program — PROactive Solutions for Prolonging Resilience — with total investment of up to $144 million over five years. The program aims to develop tools and therapies that detect and intervene on the earliest biological changes associated with aging, before disease takes hold.
What PROSPR Teams Will Build
The selected teams are tackling aging from multiple angles: biomarker detection platforms that identify pre-disease states, therapeutic interventions that slow or reverse cellular aging processes, and diagnostic tools that measure biological age with clinical precision. Brown University alone received an award of up to $22 million to study treatments that slow human aging at the molecular level.
ARPA-H's model differs from traditional NIH grants. Awards are milestone-based, with continued funding contingent on hitting specific technical benchmarks. Teams that fall short can lose funding; teams that exceed expectations may receive accelerated support.
The Broader Healthspan Push
PROSPR sits within ARPA-H's Proactive Health Office, one of four mission offices that have collectively launched 23 programs since the agency's founding. The agency's FY2026 budget maintains its operational tempo, and the broader research community has rallied behind its approach — over 100 organizations signed a letter supporting robust FY2026 ARPA-H funding.
For researchers in gerontology, molecular biology, and preventive medicine, PROSPR signals where federal health dollars are headed: upstream, before chronic disease develops. Monitor ARPA-H's open funding page for upcoming solicitations in adjacent areas.
In-depth coverage of ARPA-H funding trends is available on the Granted blog.