New Funding Comes After Pressley, Colleagues Lobbied to Bring New ARPA-H Research Hub to Cambridge

CAMBRIDGE – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) joined First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, and Biden Administration officials in Cambridge for Dr. Biden’s announcement of $100 million in new federal funding for research and development into women’s health. The funding is part of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, which was announced late last year, and comes from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The new funding also comes after Rep. Pressley and her colleagues in the Massachusetts congressional delegation successfully lobbied the Biden-Harris Administration to bring ARPA-H’s new cutting edge research hub to Cambridge.

“For too long, our public health system has left women behind by failing to confront disparities in healthcare access and the lack of federal research funding—and it’s time we do something about it,” said Rep. Pressley. “This new $100 million investment in women’s health research is historic and is the type of robust federal investment necessary to address longstanding disparities and advance gender justice in our healthcare system. Our greatest wealth as a nation is the health of our people, and I thank First Lady Biden, Secretary Becerra, First Lady Shriver, and the Biden-Harris Administration officials for their partnership in building more just and healthy communities.”

Joining Rep. Pressley, Dr. Biden, and Secretary Becerra at today’s event were Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA), former California First Lady Maria Shriver, Dr. ARPA-H Director Renee Wegrzyn, the Initiative’s chair Dr. Carolyn Mazure, and Mayor Denise Simmons.

Today’s event marks the tenth time Rep. Pressley has hosted high-ranking Biden-Harris Administration officials in Massachusetts.

• In July 2023, Rep. Pressley hosted Vice President Kamala Harris, Chairman Steven Horsford, and members of the Congressional Black Caucus in Roxbury for a town hall event with civic leaders and advocacy groups.
• In November 2022, Rep. Pressley joined Vice President Kamala D. Harris and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 17 in Dorchester to discuss the Inflation Reduction Act and promote federal efforts that will support fuel assistance, lower home energy costs for Massachusetts families, and improve access to affordable and efficient clean energy home upgrades across the country.
• In September 2022, Rep. Pressley hosted President Biden in Boston to attend his Cancer Moonshot announcement and celebrate new federal funding for Logan Airport.
• On July 15, 2022, Rep. Pressley joined First Lady Dr. Jill Biden at Home Base in Charlestown to visit military families, veterans, servicemembers, and clinicians as part of the White House’s Joining Forces initiative.
• On July 16, 2022, Rep. Pressley and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) joined First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh in a visit to a job training program at the Eversource Station 99 to highlight Bunker Hill Community College’s (BHCC) partnership with Eversource and Utility Workers Union of America to provide job training opportunities to BHCC students.
• On August 4, 2022, Rep. Pressley joined Vice President Kamala Harris at the IBEW Local 103 in Dorchester for a roundtable with Massachusetts state legislators and local leaders to discuss the fight to protect reproductive rights.
• On September 4, 2022, Rep. Pressley hosted U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra at the Codman Square Health Center in Dorchester for a convening on their work to address the Black maternal health crisis and the criminalization of abortion care in states across the nation.
• On Labor Day, September 5, 2022, Rep. Pressley joined Vice President Kamala Harris for a roundtable discussion to celebrate the collective power of organized labor.
• On September 12, 2022, Rep. Pressley joined President Joe Biden in Boston for his remarks on the Cancer Moonshot initiative and to celebrate $62 million in new federal funding for Logan Airport.
• On October 14, 2022, Rep. Pressley  and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) joined Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona at the Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology (BFIT) to meet students training for careers in new technologies and to discuss the Biden-Harris administration’s Economic Blueprint and its focus on rebuilding a more innovative, resilient and equitable economy.