ARPA-H Rare Disease AI/ML and Precision Integrated Diagnostics (RAPID) Patients’ Day

The Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health has issued a Special Notice announcing the ARPA-H Rare Disease AI/ML and Precision Integrated Diagnostics (RAPID) Patients' Day, a virtual event scheduled for February 25, 2025. The notice targets the patient advocacy and engagement community, alerting them to a newly approved ARPA-H program focused on addressing prolonged diagnostic challenges for rare disease patients. The event will take place from 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM EST and serves as a platform to introduce the RAPID program's innovative approach to leveraging AI and machine learning for diagnostic improvements. This initiative is part of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health's broader mission to transform healthcare through cutting-edge technological solutions.

The RAPID program will be executed across four technical areas: massive-scale rare disease dataset development, novel diagnostic indicators discovery, sustainable AI diagnostic platform creation, and real-world validation of diagnostic methods. Patient Experience (PX) Partners will be funded to integrate patient perspectives throughout the program's technical areas. Registration for the virtual event opens on December 19, 2024, at noon ET and closes on February 21, 2025, at noon ET, with no registration fee required. The associated program solicitation (ARPA-H-SOL-25-119) is anticipated for release in mid-January 2025, with a draft currently available for review. An Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) partner will be selected separately to provide continuous oversight of the program. Potential participants, particularly those in the patient advocacy community and research sectors, are encouraged to review the draft solicitation and prepare for potential engagement with the RAPID initiative.