Broad Pragmatic Studies PCORI Funding- Cycle 2 2026 Grant

Note: A Letter of Intent (indicated above as Letter of Inquiry) must be submitted and an organization must be invited to submit a full application.
About PCORI
PCORI funds patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER).
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) intends to issue a Broad Pragmatic Studies (BPS) PCORI Funding Announcement (PFA), seeking to fund patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) projects.
Research Initiative Highlights
CER compares at least two available health treatments, services or care delivery strategies. PCORI seeks proposals that compare clinical interventions (e.g., pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments, screening and diagnostic approaches) and healthcare delivery system interventions (e.g., workforce, technologies, healthcare service delivery designs) to evaluate potential benefits and harms of different treatment and care delivery options, thus generating evidence that empowers patients, caregivers and the broader healthcare community with information to make informed choices that reflect their needs and preferences.
Special Areas of Emphasis
For Cycle 2 2026, PCORI is particularly interested in submissions that address the following Special Areas of Emphasis (SAE) within the BPS funding opportunity. The purpose of identifying these SAEs is to encourage submissions to these areas, rather than limiting submissions to these topics. Applicants addressing one of the below SAEs should identify the area that is best associated with their research approach:
Addressing ObesityDiabetes Prevention, Care and TreatmentManagement of Urogynecological and Pelvic PainPain Management for Individuals Living With Sickle Cell Disease
In PCORI-funded research, patients and other research partners are expected to meaningfully contribute their lived experience or professional expertise to ensure studies are patient-centered, relevant and useful for healthcare decision making. Applicants must address PCORI’s Foundational Expectations for Partnerships in Research — an evidence-based framework supported by tools and resources to guide effective engagement strategies. Applicants are also strongly encouraged to consider the inclusion of a broad range of patient-centered burdens and economic outcomes.
Broad Pragmatic Studies PFA: Category 1, Category 2 and Category 3 Study Specifications
PCORI will commit up to $120 million in direct costs through this funding opportunity. This funding opportunity contains three categories for funding:

• Category 1: Category 1 will support research projects with direct costs up to and including $5 million.

Category 2: Category 2 will support research projects with direct costs greater than $5 million and up to a maximum of $12 million. Applications for funding under Category 2 will be required to provide additional information in the Letter of Intent (LOI) and application to justify the size and scope of the proposed research projects and to explain how additional funds are necessary with respect to the scale, scope and complexity of personnel and material resources needed to address the research question.
Category 3: Category 3 will support research projects with direct costs up to $12 million that utilize PCORnet® to conduct observational studies and/or pragmatic trials that are national in scale. Category 3 PCORnet Studies® must include two or more Clinical Research Networks and share study progress, performance metrics and best practices with the network to promote continuous learning and improvement. PCORnet Studies® will leverage the PCORnet Common Data Model® as appropriate. Additional details about Category 3 can be found on the PCORI website.

Eligibility

In general, applications for the conduct of research and management of funding may be submitted by:
Private SectorPublic SectorUS Organizations: Must be recognized by the U.S. Internal Revenue ServiceForeign Organizations and Nondomestic Components of US Organizations: Foreign organizations and nondomestic components of US organizations must provide a thorough and thoughtful justification for the research’s ability to benefit the US healthcare system and must show that the engagement plans include US patients and stakeholders and are relevant to the US healthcare system.

Ineligibility

PCORI doesn't fund:
Research aimed primarily at developing and validating an instrumentCost-effectiveness analysis measuring dollar-cost per quality-adjusted life-yearComparisons that focus on the relative costs of care as the primary criterion for choosing between alternativesMost projects that do not include patients or other healthcare stakeholders throughout the research process, unless they are highly technical or methodological projects
Individuals are not permitted to apply.