Your TL;DR
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) has launched the Functional Repair of Neocortical Tissue (FRONT) program to fund novel therapies that restore function in brains damaged by stroke, trauma, or disease.
Key Dates:
- Solution Summary Due: 5:00 PM ET on August 18, 2025. A summary is required to submit a full proposal.
- Full Proposal Due: 5:00 PM ET on September 25, 2025. Encouraged submissions preferred. Additional details will be provided in a solution summary feedback letter.
Reminder: Dates are estimates and subject to change. Please reference the solicitation for the most up to date information.
Reimagining “Permanent” Brain Damage
For the more than 20 million Americans living with cognitive or motor impairments after strokes, neurodegeneration, or trauma, treatment options are frustratingly limited to physical therapy and symptom management. Globally, that figure rises to 200 million people with little hope of recovery and an estimated $800 billion in related U.S. healthcare costs per year.
ARPA-H’s new FRONT program intends to change that.
Functional Repair of Neocortical Tissue (FRONT) aims to develop graftable neural tissue that restores function—not just structure—through next-generation regenerative medicine. The program’s goal is to enable surgically implanted tissue, derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), to integrate with the host brain and encode useful information, essentially rebooting damaged regions of the neocortex.
What Makes FRONT Different?
Unlike previous efforts focused on organoids or cell transplants, FRONT is funding the engineering of complete tissue grafts with precise cellular architectures and functional synaptic connectivity.
The program is divided into two technical areas:
- TA1: Generation of neocortical precursor tissue ex vivo, mimicking early developmental stages and regulatory standards for clinical use.
- TA2: Surgical engraftment, integration testing, and functional recovery measurement in animal models, advancing toward IND readiness.
Proposers must address both areas across three phases over five years, culminating in FDA-ready regenerative tissue and a tested behavioral impact model in large animals.
Ethical and Social Accountability Built In
FRONT recognizes that restoring brain function via grafts raises ethical and social questions, from patient identity to perceptions of cognitive enhancement. As a result, ELSI (Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications) planning is a requirement, not an afterthought. Teams must designate an ELSI lead, engage stakeholders, and participate in annual summits to explore implications and shape responsible innovation.
The program explicitly prohibits the use of embryonic or fetal tissue and human-animal chimeras, ensuring alignment with federal research ethics.
Funding Details and Deadlines
- Award Mechanism: Other Transaction Agreements (OTs)
- Number of Awards: Multiple
- Cost Sharing: Not required
- Proposers’ Day: August 8, 2025 (register by August 5 – for This is an optional event for the proposer community to learn more about this opportunity, ask questions, and make connections. This event is not intended for patients, patient advocates, the media, or general interest audiences.)
- Solution Summary Deadline: August 18, 2025
- Full Proposal Deadline: September 25, 2025
- Eligibility: Open to U.S.-based companies, universities, and nonprofits; foreign entities may be restricted.
Why It Matters
If successful, FRONT could redefine recovery after brain injury, unlocking a future where patients regain speech, movement, or cognition thought to be lost forever. It is an ambitious call for multidisciplinary collaboration, pairing tissue engineers, neurosurgeons, ethicists, and entrepreneurs to turn scientific promise into therapeutic reality.
Learn More & Apply
📄 Read the full ISO on ARPA-H’s site
📧 Submit questions: FRONT@arpa-h.gov
🧠 Want to join a team or need support building a proposal? Reach out early; this one is complex and competitive.
Ready To Take the Next Step?
We assist our clients in locating, applying for, and evaluating the outcomes of non-dilutive grant funding. We believe non-dilutive funding is a crucial tool for mitigating investment risks, and we are dedicated to guiding our clients through the entire process—from identifying the most suitable opportunities to submitting and managing grant applications.