St. Jude-led researchers just landed a major federal lift that could push cutting-edge gene-editing therapies out of the lab and into human trials within a few years. The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health is backing a project aimed at correcting disease-causing mutations with up to $28.5 million in support, led by hematology researcher Shengdar Tsai, Ph.D., at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.
ARPA-H Award Details
According to ARPA-H, the award, listed as DRIVE (Delivering Rare-disease In Vivo Editors), formally began on July 6, 2026, with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital named as the prime awardee. The agency lists the award amount as up to $28.5 million and identifies Shengdar Tsai, Ph.D., as the project’s principal investigator based in Memphis.
THRIVE Program And Clinical Goals
As reported by the Memphis Business Journal, the DRIVE project is part of ARPA-H’s THRIVE initiative, which aims to use an umbrella clinical-trial model to test multiple gene-editing products and launch first-in-human trials within three years. Instead of running completely separate trials for each rare disorder, the model is designed so several candidates can share delivery, safety and off-target data, with the goal of speeding development for patients with rare diseases.
St. Jude's Gene-Editing Muscle
The Tsai Lab at St. Jude focuses on refining genome-editing tools, measuring unintended off-target activity and translating edits in hematopoietic stem cells, according to St. Jude. DRIVE is set to lean on that combination of safety work and translational experience as it brings together academic and industry partners to move candidate therapies toward clinical testing.
Why Patients Are Watching
Inherited bone-marrow failure disorders, including Fanconi anemia and Diamond-Blackfan anemia, can severely impair a patient’s ability to produce blood cells and have few truly targeted treatment options, according to StatPearls. If genome-editing approaches can safely correct the underlying mutation in a patient’s own stem cells, they could reduce dependence on transfusions and high-risk transplants.
Local Lift, National Aim
In Memphis, the award arrives as St. Jude continues to bulk up its research footprint. Earlier this year, the hospital filed roughly a $187 million permit for its Advanced Research Center II, according to the Memphis Business Journal, signaling that more lab space is on the way.
ARPA-H’s THRIVE materials note that performer awards are contingent on hitting specific milestones and that the agency’s total commitment across teams is up to $160 million. That means DRIVE, like the other projects, is funded up to its stated amount only if it meets aggressive performance goals set by the agency, according to ARPA-H.
If DRIVE clears those hurdles, St. Jude and its partners could come away with regulatory and manufacturing playbooks that allow multiple genome-editing therapies to be tested under a single umbrella trial. Researchers say that kind of framework could reshape how rare-disease drugs are developed. For Memphis, it would also cement the city’s role in front-line genetic research and bring patients with devastating inherited blood disorders a step closer to experimental treatments in their own backyard.
