Healthcare cyber research programs escape budget knife

A U.S. federal grant effort to develop autonomous medical device patching platforms for hospitals evaded the budget-cutting knife of the Trump administration in its annual funding request sent to Congress.

The Universal Patching and Remediation for Autonomous Defense program, or UPGRADE, will stay on track in a budget request that would cut $555 million from the Advanced Research Project Agency for Health, the project’s home agency. ARPA-H is a component of the Department of Health and Human Services. It received $1.5 billion in the current federal fiscal year, which expires Sept. 30.

When UPGRADE was first launched in 2024, ARPA-H estimated funding could reach $50 million, but adjusted the amount to $43 million “based on the support appropriate for the selected performers’ projects,” a federal official who requested not to be identified told ISMG.

Read more at Healthcare Info Security