Renee Wegrzyn, PhD, Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), and the New York-based awardees of the agency’s Sprint for Women's Health, will be honored in an event today hosted by Cure at its innovation campus in midtown New York City.
The Sprint for Women is the first major deliverable of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. ARPA-H announced 24 winning teams would receive a total of more than $113 million. Among them were six companies from New York, five of which have a presence in New York City.
“Women are more than half of the U.S. population, but women’s health research is critically underfunded. This oversight isn’t just a medical issue—it’s a missed business opportunity with far-reaching economic implications,” said ARPA-H Director Renee Wegrzyn, PhD. “It’s time for greater public and private investment, and ARPA-H is proud to do our part.”
The funding is designed to support both early-stage “spark” projects and later-stage “launchpad” initiatives, with the latter aiming for commercialization within two years, ensuring timely access to new solutions for women’s health needs.
The New York awardees presenting their innovations at the Cure event include Alexandra Sakatos, PhD, Ancilia Biosciences; Sandra Milligan, MD, JD, Aspira Women's Health; Piraye Beim, PhD, Celmatix; Christian Kramme, PhD, Gameto; and Elisa Riedo, PhD, Glaucus.
Launched in February 2024, the Sprint sought requests for solutions funding to seed innovation and provide a launchpad for women's health research. More than 1,700 applications from 35 countries, spanning emerging startups to established global innovators, sought funding.
The Initiative, managed by Jenica Patterson, PhD, Portfolio Lead, Project Accelerator Transition Innovation Office at ARPA-H, chose to fund awardees with projects in six key areas that address therapeutic areas, including cancer, ovarian health, gynecological and endometriosis care, obstetrics, menopause, lymphatics, pain management, and neurological and cardiovascular conditions.
Notably, 30 percent of the awardees are first-time government funding recipients, 39 percent employ fewer than 50 people, and more than 70 percent are led by women.
The initiative is conducted in collaboration with the Investor Catalyst Hub of ARPANET-H, the agency’s nationwide health innovation network that connects people, innovators, and institutions – including Cure – to accelerate better health outcomes for everyone.