PCORI Offers Up to $90 Million in Funding in Third Call for Large Pragmatic Studies Proposals

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) today issued the third funding announcement under its Pragmatic Clinical Studies initiative, offering up to $90 million in support for studies that address practical comparative questions faced by patients, clinicians, and other healthcare decision makers.

PCORI will provide up to $10 million in direct costs for studies lasting up to five years through this funding opportunity.

The latest announcement includes in its list of research priorities three new topics where additional research is needed to fill important evidence gaps and that were identified as priorities through the help of one of PCORI's multi-stakeholder advisory panels. This is central to PCORI's mission to support research that can help patients and those who care for them make better-informed decisions about some of the most burdensome health problems they face.

The new topic areas are:

• Comparative effectiveness of medical treatments versus invasive procedures for patients with asymptomatic carotid artery disease;
• Comparative effectiveness of different surgical options for hip fracture in older patients;
• Comparative effectiveness of different types of surgical mesh as well as the use versus non-use of mesh in repair of pelvic floor dysfunction.  

PCORI has already invited full applications related to 14 of the high-priority research topics listed for this funding announcement. Although PCORI will still consider topics for which it has invited full applications, it will only consider multiple pragmatic trials on the same topic if they are deemed complementary. Therefore, this might be a factor in PCORI's decision to invite a full application based on LOIs submitted for this funding announcement.

"We're excited about this latest step in our continuing efforts to support research that will address key unanswered health questions that affect millions of people," said PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, MD, MPH.  "The findings from the trials we'll fund through this initiative have great potential to provide information that can be directly adopted by healthcare providers because the studies will focus on practical questions and be conducted in typical care settings, rather than specialized research settings."

Interested applicants must submit Letters of Intent (LOIs) by no later than 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 1. LOIs are competitive, meaning they will be screened for their responsiveness and fit to the initiative's goals. PCORI will notify those invited to submit full applications by Friday, Oct. 31. Other key dates and details can be found in the Funding Center on PCORI's website.

The new announcement includes an array of resources designed to help research teams submit responsive proposals. In addition, PCORI staff will answer potential applicants' questions during an informational "town hall" webinar on Thursday, Aug. 21.

About PCORI
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 2010. Its mission is to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers, and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed healthcare decisions. PCORI is committed to continuously seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work. More information is available at www.pcori.org.

SOURCE Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute