WASHINGTON, DC — The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has opened the application periods for nine funding opportunities that offer up to $308.5 million in total funding. The latest PCORI Funding Announcements (PFAs) include up to $285 million for comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) studies that compare health care options to help patients and other stakeholders make better-informed health care choices.

“With these first funding opportunities of 2023, PCORI proudly continues its vital work as a leading funder of patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research,” said PCORI Executive Director Nakela L. Cook, M.D., M.P.H. “For patients, caregivers and clinicians faced with myriad health care options, sound data about which care approaches work best for different people in different circumstances is essential.”

The largest funding announcement, the Broad Pragmatic Studies PFA, seeks proposals for CER studies aligned with PCORI’s National Priorities for Health. Proposals also may align with Topic Themes that speak to health issues facing large numbers of Americans and which arose from stakeholder input during PCORI’s recent strategic planning efforts. PCORI offers up to $162 million to fund studies through this PFA.

The innovative Partnering Research and Community Organizations for Novel Health Equity Research: Addressing Health Systems Factors and Social Determinants of Maternal Health Targeted PFA (Partner Targeted PFA) offers up to $63 million for studies comparing interventions that address both clinical conditions and social determinants of health to improve maternal health outcomes, a key research focus for PCORI. Studies are required to have shared leadership between researchers and community-based organizations that bring deep knowledge of members’ lived experiences and the factors affecting their health and ability to access and use available care options.

Two other Targeted PFAs seek proposals for CER studies focused on brief interventions for adolescent alcohol use and prevention and early identification and treatment of delirium in older adults. PCORI offers up to $60 million through these two PFAs.

Three implementation funding announcements seek proposals for projects to implement results of PCORI-funded research and advance approaches to effective shared decision making in practice settings. These PFAs aim to accelerate the movement of evidence developed with PCORI research funding toward practical use in improving health care and health outcomes. PCORI offers up to $23.5 million to support projects through these three PFAs.

An additional PFA seeks proposals for studies focused on strengthening and enhancing the science of engagement in health research. This groundbreaking initiative is a natural evolution of PCORI’s leadership in funding patient-centered research and supports more strategic approaches to promoting robust engagement, inclusion and diversity in health research. PCORI offers up to $4.5 million through this PFA.

Another PFA seeks proposals for studies on improving methods to conduct patient-centered CER to enhance scientific rigor across this field of research. PCORI offers up to $12 million through this PFA.

“Guided by our National Priorities for Health, PCORI’s latest funding opportunities build on the organization’s success funding research addressing health care challenges that confront families every day and are designed to generate research that provides patients and other health care decision makers with the information they need to make better-informed choices among their health care options,” said Harv Feldman, M.D., MSCE, PCORI’s Deputy Executive Director for Patient-Centered Research Programs. “These diverse opportunities are made possible by the ambitious three-year commitment plan approved by our Board of Governors in December of last year.”

To date, PCORI has invested $3.9 billion in patient-centered CER and related projects. Details on the most recent funding announcements are on PCORI’s website.