The HHS Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) has opened the Systems for Phenotypic Evaluation, Clinical Trajectories, Response, and Agency (SPECTRA) Innovative Solutions Opening, Notice ID ARPA-H-SOL-26-163. SPECTRA is a major autism precision-health research program intended to combine biological, clinical, developmental, environmental, family, behavioral, and real-world data to improve assessment, understand individual trajectories, and enable more individualized interventions and supports across the lifespan.
ARPA-H is seeking cross-disciplinary solutions across four technical areas: TA1 Analysis, covering tools that characterize genetic, environmental, family, metabolic, immune, and developmental factors; TA2 Modeling, focused on federated and privacy-preserving AI platforms; TA3 Precision Intervention, focused on individualized selection and rigorous testing of interventions; and TA4 Enabling Technologies, focused on accessible communication, quality-of-life, and embedded-assessment tools that measure real-world function through ordinary use.
A required Solution Summary is the entry gate and the schedule varies by technical area. TA4 Solution Summaries are due October 18, 2026 at 5:00 PM ET, with submissions opening October 4. TA1 and TA2 Solution Summaries are due December 2, 2026 at 5:00 PM ET, with submissions opening November 18. TA3 Solution Summaries are due January 18, 2027 at 5:00 PM ET, with submissions opening January 4, 2027. Full-proposal deadlines are to be announced. Submission is through the ARPA-H Solutions portal, while the controlling solicitation, eligibility terms, evaluation criteria, templates, registrations, award structure, and any amendments are maintained on SAM.gov under ARPA-H-SOL-26-163.
Atlas Opportunity Score: 72/100. N9+ Fit: 38/100. SPECTRA is highly relevant to digital health, embedded assessment, real-world measurement, and precision-care technology, especially TA4, but Dr. Miltie should not be advanced as a prime or named technical contributor unless a specific qualifying capability and performance basis can be documented for the proposed technical area.