PCORI grants millions in funding for 'pragmatic clinical' research

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Board of Governors has approved $65.7 million in funding for research studies, along with offering up to $60 million in funding to support comparative clinical effectiveness studies, according to a press release.

“These studies will answer important patient-centered questions that matter to patients and those who care for them. They will do so in a way that their results will be immediately and directly relevant to all patients with these conditions and who need the information to make better-informed decisions about their healthcare options,” Joe Selby, MD, MPH, executive director, PCORI, said in the release.

Four large patient-centered studies, including ones on options for treating appendicitis, improving behavioral and mental health care and blood clot prevention in patients undergoing knee or hip replacement, will receive $56.7 million in funding.

The funding is part of PCORI’s focus on supporting clinical trials that better reflect the settings and patients health care providers will encounter.

Additionally, $9 million will go to fund studies centered on obesity; one on weight loss surgery and one on weight gain in young children taking antibiotics.

Research funding, up to $60 million, is awaiting approval from PCORI’s board, which would be used to study the use of new anticoagulation medications and alternative options for treatment-resistant depression.

National advocacy organizations, professional societies and associations, payers and key patient and stakeholder groups will be involved in the research, design and implementation of all PCORI-funded studies, according to the release.

“We’ve benefitted greatly from the perspectives of patients, clinicians, family caregivers, health plans, the life sciences industry, and others in helping us to identify key evidence gaps on conditions that greatly affect individuals and families and to refine the questions that will be the focus of our funding opportunities,” Jean Slutsky, PA, MSPH, chief engagement and dissemination officer, PCORI, said in the release.