Maryland scientist to head NIH research projects agency for health

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it formed a new research project agency for health.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra announced the formal establishment of the Advanced Research Project Agency for Health (ARPA-H) as an independent entity within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Adam H. Russell was appointed as acting deputy director, effective next month.

Russell currently serves as chief scientist at the University of Maryland’s Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS). He previously spent more than 10 years as a program manager, first at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) and then at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

At Darpa, Russell focused on new experimental platforms and tools to facilitate discovery, quantification and “big validation” of fundamental measures in social science, behavioral science and human performance, according to a news release.

His new role will see him guiding the early stages of building the administrative structure of the agency and overseeing the hiring of initial operational staff. President Joe Biden will appoint a director who will be responsible for the administration and operation for ARPA-H.

“We are ecstatic that Dr. Adam Russell has accepted the challenge to help launch ARPA-H, President Biden’s bold, new endeavor to support ambitious and potentially transformational health research in this country,” Becerra said in the release. “ARPA-H will have a singular purpose: to drive breakthroughs in health, including the prevention, detection and treatment of diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes.”