REST_Special Notice_Mod1_June16.pdf

Special Notice (SN) ARPA-H-SN-26-159 Proposers’ Day Announcement for Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H)/Proactive Health Office (PHO) Opportunity: Restorative & health-Enhancing Sleep Time (REST)

I. KEY INFORMATION

Table 1. Proposers’ Day Key Information

Proposers’ Day July 13, 2026, 8AM – 5PM ET

Location Hybrid - Virtual and In Person Washington, DC (Exact location to be provided with registration)

Website for registration https://solutions.arpa-h.gov/events

Registration opens June 16, 2026

Registration closes July 10, 2026 at 12:00pm ET. In-person attendance will close if capacity is reached prior to the deadline.

Technical Point of Contact

Nate Mohatt, PhD Program Manager, ARPA-H/PHO

Program email REST@arpa-h.gov

II. INTRODUCTION

This Special Notice (SN) is intended to notify the proposer community of a Proposers’ Day (PD) associated with the Restorative & health-Enhancing Sleep Time (REST) program under the Proactive Health Office (PHO) of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health

(ARPA-H).

ARPA-H expects to publish an Innovative Solutions Opening (ISO) for the REST program, ARPA-H-SOL-26-159, on or about June 16, 2026. This Special Notice (SN) provides advance information regarding the associated Proposers’ Day.

Potential proposers are encouraged to attend the optional Proposers’ Day. While not mandatory, ARPA-H is hosting the REST PD to achieve the following objectives:

• Provide information about the program to potential proposers, including the overall program goals, scope, structure, and how they may respond to the REST ISO;

• Share the intended vision, timeline, and ecosystem structure of the REST program, including expected interfaces among performers and shared program resources;

• Facilitate teaming discussions among potential proposers to achieve program goals;

and

• Support understanding of technical, translational, regulatory, and commercialization expectations for REST.

The PD will include overview presentations by Government personnel and other stakeholders;

open discussion time to facilitate teaming and proposal planning; and a live question-and-answer session. ARPA-H will collect participant questions throughout the event and may https://solutions.arpa-h.gov/events publish answers of general applicability in a publicly available Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) resource on the REST program page and/or SAM.gov.

Attendance at this event is not a requirement for submission of a Solution Summary or selection for funding. However, it is anticipated that unique multi-party teaming arrangements may be necessary to successfully innovate and integrate the critical technologies needed to meet the REST program goals.

Information relayed during the PD that is appropriate for broader release may be made available on the REST program page and/or SAM.gov. In the event of any inconsistency between information presented during the PD and the REST ISO, the REST ISO controls.

Advance Registration is required. ARPA-H may prioritize potential proposers for in-person attendance due to location capacity.

III. REST – PROGRAM INFORMATION

While full details of the REST program will be provided in the forthcoming REST ISO, the following is a brief description of the program. Proposers should refer to the forthcoming REST ISO for complete requirements and guidance.

Overview The REST program seeks to transform how poor sleep is measured and treated by enabling objective, home-based, closed-loop technologies that detect health-relevant features of sleep and respond to them in real time.

Poor sleep is common, consequential, and inadequately addressed by current tools.

Existing approaches often emphasize measures such as sleep duration, timing, regularity, and stage classification, but these do not fully capture the physiological features of sleep most relevant to restoration and long-term health. At the same time, the richest measurements remain largely confined to clinical sleep studies, while current treatments for insomnia and related sleep problems are often insufficiently personalized and not designed to adapt to physiology throughout the night.

REST is motivated by the hypothesis that sleep can be treated as a controllable biological system: one whose health-relevant features can be identified objectively, measured in the home, and modulated during sleep to improve health. If successful, REST aims to create the technical foundation for a new generation of sleep health technologies that are objective, personalized, and capable of improving long-term health outcomes at scale.

Technical Areas REST is expected to solicit proposals in two Technical Areas:

TA1: Measure & Diagnose TA1 focuses on development of validated, in-home systems for objective measurement of sleep-relevant physiology, diagnosis of poor sleep centered on insomnia, and mechanistic classification of poor sleep. TA1 efforts are expected to translate clinically meaningful sleep measurement into home settings and generate outputs that support screening, diagnosis, and future treatment matching.

TA2: Control & Treat TA2 focuses on development of noninvasive, closed-loop systems that adapt intervention to the user’s sleep state and physiology in real time to improve sleep quality and treat insomnia. TA2 efforts are expected to sense relevant physiological features during sleep, personalize intervention across the night, and improve clinically meaningful outcomes.

REST is centered on insomnia. Proposers may also address one or more additional sleep disorders, provided that the core REST objectives are met.

Teaming Expectations ARPA-H anticipates that strong proposals may require capabilities spanning multiple domains, including:

• sleep medicine, sleep science, and insomnia expertise;

• wearable, nearable, or in-home sensing and device development;

• EEG and other physiological signal acquisition, processing, and sleep-state estimation;

• AI/ML, transfer learning, and multimodal modeling;

• objective diagnosis and mechanistic subtype classification of poor sleep;

• closed-loop control algorithms and adaptive intervention systems;

• noninvasive neuromodulation and related intervention modalities;

• human factors and usability engineering for home-based use;

• human subjects research and clinical validation; and

• regulatory strategy for diagnostic and/or therapeutic device development, as applicable.

IV. TEAMING NEEDS

It is anticipated that creation of a quality proposal to meet all criteria will require combining technologies and/or companies, which can be time consuming and challenging. It is recommended that proposers submit a teaming profile to engage with potential collaborators as soon as possible to form the best teams possible.

Teaming Profiles

Interested parties are highly encouraged to submit a ‘teaming profile’ via the REST Teaming Profile Form: https://solutions.arpa-h.gov/teaming/rest. The teaming profile will describe the technical competencies, team capabilities, team composition, research areas of interest, unique facilities and other capabilities, as they relate to the program, and desired technical/other competencies sought from other potential team partners. The profile will include, at a minimum:

• Contact information, including name, organization, email, telephone number, and website;

• Brief description of the proposer’s technical competencies and relevant facilities; and

• Desired technical competencies and facilities from other potential team members, if applicable.

All teaming profiles must be submitted through the designated REST Teaming Profile Form.

The teaming profile will be updated regularly and made available on the program's teaming profile page.

Specific content, communications, networking, and team formation are the sole responsibility of participants. ARPA-H does not endorse any participating organization or exercise any responsibility for improper dissemination of the team profiles.

V. REST – PROPOSERS’ DAY INFORMATION

Live Q&A A live Q&A session will be led by the Program Manager and, as appropriate, representatives from the Business Innovation Division (BID) during REST PD. Participants are encouraged to use this time to ask programmatic and contracting questions related to the forthcoming

REST ISO.

ARPA-H will collect participant questions and may make responses of general applicability available in a publicly available Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) resource on the REST program page and/or on SAM.gov.

Registration Information Participants must register in advance through the registration website. Due to capacity limitations, in-person registration may be limited. PLEASE NOTE: The registration cutoff date is July 10, 2026 at 12:00 PM ET for in person attendance, or once attendance capacity is met, whichever comes first. There is no registration fee for the REST Proposers’ Day. Note that there will be no same-day registration. An online registration form and various other meeting details can be found at the registration website (https://solutions.arpa-h.gov/events).

All in-person attendees will be required to present valid, Government issued photo identification. Individuals who are unable to register because the deadline has passed, or capacity has been reached for the PD, will be added to a waitlist.

All inquiries should be sent through http://solutions.arpa-h.gov/ask-a-question. Prior to submitting an e-mail inquiry, please check the FAQs on the REST program page to see if your question is answered there.

Virtual Attendance Information Virtual attendees will receive the link to the Proposers’ Day once they are verified and registration is confirmed.

VI. POINTS OF CONTACT

Technical Point of Contact Nate Mohatt, PhD, Program Manager, ARPA-H /PHO Email: REST@arpa-h.gov

All inquiries should reference “REST Proposers’ Day (ARPA-H-SN-159)” in the subject line of the email.

VII. WEBINAR/VIRTUAL ATTENDANCE INFORMATION

Virtual attendees will receive webinar or meeting access information once registration is verified and confirmed.

https://solutions.arpa-h.gov/events mailto:REST@arpa-h.gov

VIII. DISCLAIMER

This SN is issued solely for information and advance planning purposes and does not constitute a formal solicitation for proposals or solution summaries. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding award.

Submission of any information in response to this SN is voluntary and is not required to propose to subsequent ARPA-H ISOs or research solicitations on this or any other topic.

ARPA-H will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred in responding to this SN or participating in the REST Proposers’ Day.

Respondents are advised that ARPA-H is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this SN.