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ARPA-H: Funding Opportunities to Accelerate Better Health Outcomes

Monday, April 22, 2024

1:00 pm - 2:30 pm

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) was established in March 2022 to accelerate better health outcomes for everyone by supporting the development of high-impact solutions to society’s most challenging health problems. With a scope spanning the molecular to the societal, ARPA-H programs have the potential to radically improve everyone’s health. Their streamlined awards process enables the agency to act quickly and catalyze cutting-edge biomedical and health research.

About the Speaker

Erin Smith is the director of Public-Private Partnerships at ARPA-H. She leads ARPA-H’s engagement with the private sector, investors, foundations, and other key stakeholders. Before joining ARPA-H, Smith was the Senior Vice-President of Government Affairs and Policy at Twist Bioscience. There, she led and developed the global corporate affairs strategy. Before Twist, Smith led the expansion and development of a government affairs program at Gilead Sciences, DaVitaRx, and other healthcare organizations.

Smith’s tenure in government service began in recent Secretary of Energy and former Governor Rick Perry’s office as an advisor on health care policy and finance, charged with coordination of state and federal resources and policy. Smith serves as adjunct faculty at the University of Houston Law Center, where she teaches courses on legislative strategy, government affairs and public policy.

Smith earned her J.D. with honors from the University of Houston Law Center, her M.P.H. summa cum laude from the University of Texas Health Science Center, and her B.A. with distinguished honors from Drew University.

Location
UH Student Center South