Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI): Open and Upcoming Grant Opportunities
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is the leading funder of patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research in the United States. PCORI is an independent, nonprofit research funding organization that seeks to empower patients and others with actionable information about their health and healthcare choices.
Below is a list of OPEN and UPCOMING funding opportunities sponsored by PCORI. Please see the solicitation of each opportunity for full eligibility and other program details.
OPEN/ACTIVE
Engagement Award: Capacity Building – Spring 2025 Cycle
LOI Deadline: April 1, 2025 at 5:00pm (EST)
Amount: $300,000 over 2 years
Summary: This opportunity aims to build the capacity and skills of patients, families, caregivers and the broader healthcare community to engage in all phases of patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER).
Engagement Award: Dissemination Initiative – Spring 2025 Cycle
LOI Deadline: April 1, 2025 at 5:00pm (EST)
Amount: $300,000 over 2 years
Summary: This opportunity supports projects that help organizations and communities actively share pertinent PCORI-funded research findings with their specific audiences. This support enables communication of CER results to patients, families, caregivers and the broader healthcare community, in ways that will command their attention and interest and encourage use of this information in their healthcare decisions. Your project must focus on active dissemination that spreads awareness and increases knowledge of PCORI-funded research findings. This funding opportunity will not support projects that propose passive, untailored and untargeted dissemination strategies.
Engagement Award: Convening Support – Spring 2025 Cycle
LOI Deadline: April 1, 2025 at 5:00pm (EST)
Amount: $125,000 over 1 year
Summary: This opportunity supports projects that include multi-party convenings, meetings and conferences which bring together communities of patients, families, caregivers and other members of the broader healthcare community. These must align with PCORI’s mission and help expand patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER). All proposed projects must show how they will expand patient-centered CER. (While previous funding announcements used “PCOR/CER”; all applications should now use “patient-centered CER.”) Your project must focus on one of two funding tracks — Convening Around Patient-Centered CER or Convening Around Dissemination of PCORI-Funded Research Findings — and you will self-select the focus at the time of LOI submission:
- Convening Around Patient-Centered CER:These projects promote discussion of research topics; prioritizing research questions and/or engagement plans for patient-centered CER.
- Convening Around Dissemination of PCORI-Funded Research Findings:These projects communicate results from eligible PCORI-funded studies to targeted audiences who will use the results through convening(s) as the primary method for active dissemination.
UPCOMING
Addressing Rare Diseases Topical PCORI Funding Announcement - Cycle 3 2025
Applicant Town Hall: August 19, 2025 (click here to register)
LOI Deadline: September 23, 2025
Amount: Direct costs up to $12M over five years
Summary: PCORI intends to issue a PCORI Funding Announcement (PFA) on August 12, 2025, seeking to fund high-quality, patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) studies that focus on rare diseases. This preannouncement provides potential applicants additional time to identify collaborators; obtain patient and stakeholder input on potential studies; and develop responsive, high-quality proposals.
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Topical PCORI Funding Announcement - Cycle 2 2025
Applicant Town Hall: April 7, 2025 (click here to register)
LOI Deadline: May 13, 2025
Amount: Direct costs up to $12M over five years
Summary: PCORI intends to issue a Topical PCORI Funding Announcement (PFA) on April 1, 2025, seeking to fund high-quality, patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) projects that focus on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs). This preannouncement provides potential applicants additional time to identify collaborators; obtain patient and stakeholder input on potential studies; and develop responsive, high-quality proposals.
Addressing Violence and Trauma Topical PCORI Funding Announcement - Cycle 2 2025
Applicant Town Hall: April 9, 2025 (click here to register)
LOI Deadline: May 13, 2025
Amount: Direct costs up to $12M over five years
Summary: (PCORI) intends to issue a Topical PCORI Funding Announcement (PFA) on April 1, 2025, seeking to fund high-quality, patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) projects that focus on addressing violence and trauma. This preannouncement provides potential applicants additional time to identify collaborators; obtain patient and stakeholder input on potential studies; and develop responsive, high-quality proposals.
Broad Pragmatic Studies PCORI Funding Announcement - Cycle 2 2025
Applicant Town Hall: April 8, 2025 (click here to register)
LOI Deadline: May 13, 2025
Amount: Varies by Category (see solicitation)
Summary: PCORI intends to release a Broad Pragmatic Studies (BPS) PCORI Funding Announcement (PFA) on April 1, 2025, seeking to fund patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) projects. This preannouncement provides potential applicants additional time to identify collaborators; obtain patient, community and partner input on potential studies; and create responsive, high-quality proposals.
Phased Large Awards for Comparative Effectiveness Research PCORI Funding Announcement - Cycle 2 2025
Applicant Town Hall: April 4, 2025 (click here to register)
LOI Deadline: May 13, 2025
Amount: Up to $2M in direct costs for feasibility phase (18-month duration); Up to $20M in direct costs for continuation to a full-scale phase (5 years duration)
Summary: (PCORI) intends to release a Phased Large Awards for Comparative Effectiveness Research (PLACER) PCORI Funding Announcement (PFA) on April 1, 2025, seeking to fund high-quality patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) projects that will address critical decisions faced by patients, caregivers and the broader healthcare community and for which there is insufficient evidence. This preannouncement provides potential applicants additional time to identify collaborators; obtain patient, community and partner input on potential studies; and create responsive, high-quality proposals.
Advancing the Science of Engagement in Research PCORI Funding Announcement - Cycle 2 2025
Applicant Town Hall: April 11, 2025 (click here to register)
LOI Deadline: May 13, 2025
Amount: Up to $1M in direct costs for Rapid Measurement Studies (2 years duration); Up to $1.5M in Development and Testing of Engagement Approaches (3 years duration)
Summary: (PCORI) intends to release the Advancing the Science of Engagement in Research PCORI Funding Announcement (PFA) on April 1, 2025, seeking to fund studies that build an evidence base on engagement in research, including:
- Measures to capture structure/context, process and outcomes of engagement in research.
- Techniques that lead to effective engagement in research.
- How effective engagement techniques should be modified and resourced for different contexts, settings and communities.
Important Note: Applications focused on patient engagement in clinical or self-care are NOT responsive to this PCORI Funding Announcement (PFA). This includes clinical shared decision-making interventions, interventions to increase patient engagement with recommended treatments or preventive measures, or to increase use of recommended interventions by populations. For example, a study to develop and/or test an intervention to increase patient persistence in the use of guideline recommended medication is not responsive. This PFA is focused on engagement of partners in RESEARCH; i.e., the life-cycle of planning, conducting and disseminating research projects.
Applicant Town Hall: This event has passed. View the recording here.
LOI Deadline: May 13, 2025
Amount: See solicitation for full details
Summary: (PCORI) intends to release an Improving Methods for Conducting Patient-Centered Comparative Clinical Effectiveness Research (Methods) PCORI Funding Announcement (PFA) on April 1, 2025, seeking to fund studies that address high-impact methodological gaps in patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER). This preannouncement is provided to allow potential applicants additional time to identify collaborators; obtain patient and stakeholder input on potential studies; and develop responsive, high-quality proposals. PCORI seeks to fund projects that address important methodological gaps and lead to improvements in the strength and quality of evidence generated by CER studies. For all three funding cycles of the 2025 Methods PFA, PCORI has identified the following areas as program priorities:
- Methods To Improve the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in CER.
- Methods To Improve Study Design.
- Methods To Support Data Research Networks.
- Methods Related to Ethical and Human Subjects Protections Issues in CER.