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PCORI Approves Funding for New Research Studies
In August and September 2020, PCORI approved funding for nine new studies assessing various healthcare approaches to improve outcomes among people infected by the novel coronavirus and lessen its effects on patients, healthcare workers, and communities. Among the first seven approved studies are projects comparing the impacts on patients from state and local pandemic containment and mitigation policies, as well as projects on healthcare access and disparities in outcomes among racial and ethnic minorities and underserved populations.
An eighth study will look at the effects of policy changes relating to COVID-19-related medication-assisted treatment on people with opioid use disorders, and a ninth study will investigate different types and intensities of four basic preventive interventions in reducing rates of COVID-19 and related hospitalization and mortality in staff and adult residents with serious mental illness (SMI) and intellectual or developmental disabilities in congregate care settings.
PCORI-Funded Projects Receive Additional Funding to Address COVID-19
PCORI is currently reviewing more than 150 investigator-initiated proposals to address the COVID-19 public health crisis from our existing awardees. The submitted proposals offer ways to transform existing awards to serve their original aims while offering findings related to COVID-19. The projects cover a range of health conditions, including mental health, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases, and a variety of health intervention strategies, such as telemedicine and behavioral interventions. PCORI is approving these award enhancements on a rolling basis. Learn about the projects and the focus of their award enhancements.
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MARCH |
➤ March 31: First of six-part PCORI-sponsored webinar series, "Report from the Field: How We are Managing Incident Command," features health system leaders discussing their response to the pandemic | |
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APRIL |
➤ April 1: Board of Governors approves up to $110 million in COVID-19-related funding: |
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MAY |
➤ May 5: Final COVID-19 webinar held on the growth and ongoing use of telehealth during the pandemic, and lessons learned ➤ May 5: PCORI posts COVID-19 Targeted Funding Announcement for research into three priority areas: ♦ Adaptations to healthcare delivery ♦ Impact on vulnerable populations ♦ Impact of healthcare workforce well-being, management, and training |
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JUNE |
➤ June 9: PCORI publishes first Biweekly COVID-19 Scan ➤ June 23: PCORI Board approves up to $50 million for new COVID-19 funding opportunities, as well as enhancements to existing studies |
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JULY |
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AUGUST |
➤ August 12: PCORI publishes first quarterly Horizon Scanning COVID-19 Supplement Status Report ➤ August 18: $22.6 million in COVID-19 targeted research awards announced |
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SEPTEMBER |
➤ September 1: PCORI awards $2.3 million for COVID-19 targeted research project on medication-assisted treatment policy changes and patients with opioid use disorders ➤ September 10: PCORI awards $5 million for targeted research project on preventing COVID-19 illness in people with serious mental illness, developmental disabilities |
Future funding announcements will indicate our ongoing interest in studying COVID-19 impacts.
Highlights
Telehealth’s use has exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic and is likely to remain a fixture of health care moving forward. PCORI-funded researchers are answering important questions about how best to harness its power, including how to reach populations with limited access to technology or who need culturally tailored interventions.
The latest brief — the 10th in this series that highlights the evolving landscape of potentially impactful applications for COVID-19 — focuses on testing programs to prevent the spread on college and university campuses, and testing programs for employees as part of efforts to reopen businesses.
We revisit a Spring 2020 webinar series, which PCORI hosted and featured more than 20 healthcare and operations management experts, who discussed strategies for fine-tuning hospital capacity, staffing, and patient flow amid the coronavirus pandemic.
With the coronavirus pandemic limiting in-person activities, researchers will need options for shifting in-person Engagement activities to a virtual format. Three PCORI-funded researchers offer tips to engage remotely while maintaining safety.
PCORI Board Approves Additional Funding for Research
PCORI’s Board of Governors this summer approved allocating up to $50 million in additional funding for new projects in PCORI’s COVID-19 funding opportunities, as well as enhancements to existing PCORI-funded studies. The research will help provide answers to difficult COVID-19 related questions faced by patients, providers and health systems. This new approval of additional funding builds on PCORI's rapid response to the COVID-19 health crisis.
Healthcare Workers Registry and Study
Learn more about the newly launched HERO Registry, which will answer crucial questions about the impact of novel coronavirus on healthcare workers' lives.
PCORI is supporting a registry and study of the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine in preventing COVID-19 infections in US healthcare workers.
These funding opportunities are now closed and applications are under review.
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PCORI Funding Opportunities for COVID-19-Related Enhancements to Existing PCORI-Funded Project
We sought proposals from PCORI-funded study principal investigators and project leads that address the COVID-19 public health crisis through enhancements of their ongoing studies/projects. View the closed announcements |
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COVID-19 Targeted PFA (Cycle 2 2020)
We sought proposals for research that seeks to strengthen our understanding of ways to mitigate the virus’s impact and provide evidence to inform clinical and public health responses and planning. View the closed funding opportunity |
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Engagement Award Special Cycle: Supporting Engagement in and Dissemination of PCOR/CER in the Context of COVID-19
We sought proposals for projects that would help communities increase their ability to participate across all phases of research while responding to societal changes resulting from the pandemic. View the closed funding opportunity |
April 15, 2020—After recognizing this public health crisis and the impact that COVID-19 will have on our nation, our senior leaders, staff, and Board of Governors pivoted to focus on what PCORI could do in coordination with ongoing efforts across government, industry, and other funders.
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| Nakela L. Cook, MD, MPH Executive Director |
Our attention turned to critical dimensions of this pandemic, particularly the healthcare workers on the front lines—physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, and all personnel, both medical and nonmedical, who work each day in hospitals, triage tents, drive-through testing stations, and clinics providing compassionate care to individuals with COVID-19. The Board of Governors earlier this month approved up to $50 million to fund a registry and randomized clinical trial of the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine in preventing COVID-19 infections in healthcare workers. Our respect and gratitude for these essential workers is beyond measure.
Our thoughts are also with the many patients, families, caregivers, and friends grappling with this disease’s devastating toll. PCORI is uniquely poised to focus on patients and their caregivers; it is in our organizational DNA. Thus, since the beginning of this crisis, we have collaborated with our funded researchers to explore adding COVID-19-related aims to existing patient-centered projects.
Last week, we posted funding opportunities of up to $20 million for such work. Following a board vote early this month that provided up to $30 million for new COVID-19-related research, we are putting the pieces into place to solicit innovative research projects from the nation’s investigators and healthcare stakeholder communities to support new COVID-19-related research, engagement, and dissemination projects.
Urgent and unknowable concerns related to COVID-19 will emerge over the arc of time. At times like these, I am reminded of the lessons in humility that science and medicine teach me every day. These lessons will help us persevere through the challenging COVID-19 pandemic and enable us to attend to the next decade of leadership in comparative clinical effectiveness research.
Note: This message was adapted from a blog post by Dr. Cook, titled "Our Shared Journey to Enduring Success."
March 27, 2020—In light of the spread of COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus, the health and well-being of everyone is our primary concern as we endeavor to continue carrying out our mission with a concentration on reacting quickly to the current public health emergency.
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| Josie P. Briggs, MD Former Interim Executive Director |
Safety and well-being are integral to our research funding, engagement with stakeholders, and other services, business processes, and infrastructure. We are assessing the situation daily, remaining vigilant, and following all recommendations from the World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and federal and state authorities.
Staff Availability: Following federal and state guidance to promote social distancing, PCORI’s staff has shifted to telework and is conducting meetings and other business through virtual platforms such as teleconferencing and videoconferencing. We will strive to be accessible and minimize disruptions as much as possible under the circumstances. We appreciate your understanding and patience as we engage with you under extraordinary conditions.
Meetings: We are curtailing all business travel by PCORI staff for the foreseeable future. During that same period, we are postponing, switching to all-virtual formats, or canceling PCORI-hosted meetings. We appreciate your understanding. We are continuing with preparations for the 2020 PCORI Annual Meeting, scheduled for September 16-17 in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. However, we may have to make appropriate adjustments to our plans, if necessary. We are also working with awardees to support their efforts to convert their planned in-person meetings to all-virtual formats or to postpone or cancel their meetings.
Funding Opportunities and Deadlines: As necessary, we are adjusting the deadlines related to our funding announcements and quickly exploring ways that PCORI can contribute to the evidence base for addressing this public health crisis. Revised deadlines and opportunities are noted in the Funding Opportunities section of our website and in these FAQs.
As we chart our course through these uncertain times together, we affirm PCORI’s ongoing commitment to our core activities of supporting engagement in research and studies that provide information people need to make better-informed healthcare decisions. We will continue to provide updated information and guidance through our website to awardees, applicants, and other stakeholders as the situation develops.
Communities are facing enormous challenges and PCORI is committed to contributing to the important work needed to address the many uncertainties that face us all.
Last Updated: October 20, 2020