DRC plays important role in Texas’ successful bid for national ARPA-H hub

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By Dana Jennings, Senior Vice President, Communications, Marketing & Events

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, known as ARPA-H, announced Tuesday, Sept. 26, that Texas will be home to the ARPA-H Customer Experience Hub. The hub will be physically located at Dallas’ Pegasus Park.

The announcement is the culmination of a two-year statewide collaborative effort, which included key supports provided by the Dallas Regional Chamber (DRC) – an extension of the DRC’s focus on growing the life sciences and biotech sectors in the Dallas Region.

Pegasus Park in Dallas

“This news confirms what the Dallas Regional Chamber has known and worked toward for some time now: the Dallas Region is becoming a powerhouse for life sciences and biotechnology innovation,” said DRC President and CEO Dale Petroskey. “Bringing this hub to Pegasus Park takes this to the next level and will bring many more job opportunities to the Dallas Region. The Dallas Regional Chamber is very excited about this win, and we will do everything possible to support the success of this great opportunity.”

ARPA-H was established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to accelerate better health outcomes for all people through the development of high-impact solutions to society’s most challenging health problems.

“Its intention is to drive innovation to commercialization and reduce the timeline to get cures in the hands of patients,” said Kelly Cloud, DRC Vice President of Economic Development – Life Sciences.

The Customer Experience Hub in Dallas will focus on customer experience, access, and diversifying clinical trials for ARPA-H projects.

Austin, Houston, San Antonio, and Fort Worth each joined Dallas in the consortium behind Texas’ ARPA-H bid. The DRC provided key economic development, research, and policy support that supported the collaborative effort. The DRC sees the ARPA-H hub as a valuable catalyst to continue building on momentum in the life sciences and innovation spheres in the Dallas Region.

“[The ARPA-H hub] is one more arrow in the quiver of the life sciences community here,” said DRC Senior Vice President of Research and Innovation Duane Dankesreiter. “It elevates [the region’s] role in the life science conversation.”

The DRC signed a letter of support early in the bid process and remained engaged throughout the endeavor. The DRC’s Research and Innovation team provided research and data showcasing why Texas, and Dallas in particular, was the ideal choice for the ARPA-H hub. The insights provided – most stemming from the DRC’s Life Science Economic Development Guide – highlighted diverse patient populations, vast networks of world-class health and research institutions, a culture of collaboration, and an easily accessible location.

The DRC’s Public Policy team brought elected officials into the statewide effort to support the bid, leveraging DRC events and meetings with lawmakers to host conversations about ARPA-H.

“Our role in this was promoting the region, as well as the entire state,” said Matt Garcia, DRC Senior Vice President of Public Policy. “This positions Texas, and particularly Dallas, to be on the forefront of developing cutting-edge technologies. It puts Dallas on the map as a true center of biotech creativity and business.”

The DRC’s involved support resulted in Mike Rosa, DRC Senior Vice President of Economic Development, being selected to represent all Texas chambers involved in the bid in a presentation to the selection committee in June.

“This is a real marker that we have arrived in the life science space and launches us to grow that sector even more,” said Rosa.

The DRC pledged to leverage staff resources to connect ARPA-H to businesses, universities, and health care providers from around the Dallas Region.

Pegasus Park, the physical location of the ARPA-H Customer Experience Hub, is a 26-acre life science and social impact-focused campus in Dallas. Dallas’ hub is one of three, and each will have a network of partners, or spokes, that actively support ARPA-H mission-based programs. The ARPA-H Customer Experience Hub is operated by Advanced Technology International, with a network of almost 1,000 consortium members throughout Texas and all 50 states.

“Many partners across the state supported this effort, so this moment is another example of how Texas’ collaborative spirit leads to more and more opportunities for our people and our companies,” said Petroskey.

The other two ARPA-H hubs include the Stakeholder and Operations Hub in Washington, D.C., and the Investor Catalyst Hub in Boston.

In the News

Read what the media is saying about ARPA-H and the DRC.