On November 21, 2025, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced it would invest up to $100 million to develop more quantitative measures of mental and behavioral health through its new Evidence-Based Validation & Innovation for Rapid Therapeutics in Behavioral Health (EVIDENT) initiative. 

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Through this initiative, ARPA-H is seeking multimodal, longitudinal data (e.g., psychological, social, digital, biological) collected in registered clinical trials testing the effects of rapid-acting interventions for behavioral health. This includes interventions such as neuroplastogens (including psychedelic therapies), neuromodulation, and digital therapeutics.

 

An interesting area of focus, particularly for psychedelic therapies, includes studying the context and dynamics of therapeutic sessions, capturing in-session data from patients, facilitators (e.g., therapists, guides, monitors), and/or the environment (e.g., setting, lighting, temperature) to enable identification of real-time predictors of clinical change.

 

EVIDENT seeks to catalyze a new era in behavioral health by generating and validating objective FDA-ready clinical endpoints for emerging therapies, enabling rapid, personalized, and durable improvements in mental and behavioral health.

 

Stay tuned for updates coming soon: Initial awards will be announced in mid-April 2026 with additional announcements over the next month.

 

Reason for Hope is proud to support this initiative, including advocating to ensure ARPA-H and EVIDENT receive sufficient funding to achieve its ambitious goals.