Improving Health Decision Making With Comparative Clinical Effectiveness Research: Retrospective Observational Studies Leveraging Existing Data Sources PCORI Funding- Cycle 1 2026 Grant

This funding opportunity from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute aims to enhance health decision-making through comparative clinical effectiveness research, focusing on critical areas such as cancer, maternal health, and mental health. The initiative encourages robust observational studies that utilize existing data to derive patient-centered insights. Applications must address specific themes approved by PCORI and demonstrate potential benefits to the U.S. healthcare system, thus ensuring relevance and stakeholder engagement in research efforts.

This PCORI Funding Announcement (PFA), Improving Health Decision Making with Comparative Clinical Effectiveness Research in Cancer, Pain, Substance Use, Maternal Morbidity and Mortality, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Sensory Health, Metabolic and Endocrine Health, Mental and Behavioral Health and Rare Diseases: Retrospective Observational Studies Leveraging Existing Data Sources, seeks to fund well-designed, methodologically robust retrospective observational patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) studies that will produce timely, impactful and patient-centered results to inform healthcare decision making and improve health outcomes.
All proposed applications must respond to at least one of the following Topic Themes approved by the PCORI Board of Governors:

• Addressing Cancer
• Improving Outcomes for People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
• Preventing Maternal Morbidity and Mortality
• Improving Mental and Behavioral Health
• Improving Metabolic and Endocrine Health
• Managing Pain
• Addressing Rare Diseases
• Addressing Sensory Health
• Addressing Substance Use

Eligibility

In general, applications for the conduct of research and management of funding may be submitted by:

• Private Sector
• Public Sector

US Organizations: Must be recognized by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service
Foreign 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

Individuals are not permitted to apply. Applications that do not explicitly address at least one of  Topic Themes will be considered nonresponsive.