US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is created

The US military research agency was created on February 7, 1958 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in response to the Soviet launching of Sputnik 1 in 1957, and known as the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). Then in March 1972 organization first changed its name to DARPA (D for Defense), then changing back to ARPA in February 1993, then reverted to DARPA in March 1996. [1]

In 1999 DARPA’s primary mission “is to help maintain U.S. technological superiority and guard against unforeseen technological advances by potential adversaries” by pursuing “research and technology where risk and payoff are both very high and where success may provide dramatic advances for traditional military roles and missions and dual-use applications.” [2]

In June 2021 NIH head Dr Francis Collins et al stated a “DARPA-like culture at NIH can drive biomedical and health advances” as their vision for the March 15, 2022 established Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). [3, 4, 5]