PCORI to grant $63M in funding to diminish maternal health inequities

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute announced it is looking to grant $63 million to researcher-community partnerships focused on maternal care studies, according to a press release.

Nakela L. Cook, MD, MPH, executive director of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), said in the release that PCORI is looking for proposals from community-based organizations to understand residents’ lived experiences and health care needs. Cook added that this information will then be used to create studies that aim to improve maternal outcomes and lessen inequities.

In addition to having a focus on prenatal and/or postnatal care, the release stated that studies should incorporate the interventions of “health system strategies to address disparities in maternal health outcomes and strategies to address social determinants of health.”

According to the release, the funds given to applicants that are accepted under the Partner Targeted PCORI Funding Announcement will help in carrying out one or more clinical effectiveness research studies. Up to $21 million in funding will be available to awardees, according to the release.

“Eliminating the significant disparities in maternal outcomes that persist in the United States requires evidence-based solutions that comprehensively address both the social and clinical needs of communities disproportionately experiencing adverse outcomes,” Cook said in the release. “This is why PCORI intends to fund [clinical effectiveness research] studies in which community organizations are full partners in the work, providing leadership alongside researchers from study ideation through planning and conduct of the research.”

Interested applicants can attend a town hall Oct. 24, and letters of intent will be accepted starting in January.