Save the date: PCORI to Announce New Funding Opportunities for PCORnet® Studies on August 4

On August 4, PCORI will release the Broad Pragmatic Studies (BPS) PCORI Funding Announcement (PFA) to support high-quality patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER). Category 3 supports PCORnet® Studies with direct costs of up to $12 million.

PCORnet® Studies are defined as those that:

• Include two or more PCORnet® Clinical Research Networks (CRNs)
• Share study progress and performance metrics
• Exchange best practices with the network to promote continuous learning and improvement
• Leverage the PCORnet® Common Data Model as appropriate

PCORI has identified five specific areas of emphasis for this PFA:

1. Improving mental health and substance use outcomes for pregnant and postpartum populations
2. Addressing the post-treatment, follow-up care needs of cancer survivors
3. Diabetes prevention, care, and treatment;
4. Management of neuropathic pain;
5. Management of pain in individuals living with intellectual and developmental disabilities or Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Letters of Intent (LOIs) are due September 9 by 5 pm (ET).  

Ready to learn more and apply? Take these three steps to prepare:

1. Contact the PCORnet® Front Door as soon as possible.  All applicants submitting to the BPS Category 3 PFA are required to contact the PCORnet® Front Door prior to submitting their LOI. The PCORnet® Front Door team can advise on study feasibility and costs associated with using PCORnet, provide data to inform study design, offer best practices for stakeholder engagement, and more.
2. Register for the August 13 PCORI Applicant Town Hall to learn more about this PFA and how to submit a responsive LOI and application.
3. Check out this webinar for an overview of PCORnet and the specific requirements for the Category 3: PCORnet® Studies option in the BPS PFA. 

On August 4, PCORI will also release a PFA on Improving Methods for Conducting Patient-Centered Comparative Clinical Effectiveness Research PCORI Funding Announcement.

This PFA seeks to fund studies that address high-impact methodological gaps in patient-centered CER and might lead to improvements in the strength and quality of evidence generated by CER studies. Applicants considering this PFA are encouraged to partner with PCORnet® Network Partners.

The preannouncement provides potential applicants additional time to identify collaborators, obtain patient and partner input and develop responsive, high-quality applications.

For the Cycle 3 2026 Methods PFA, PCORI has identified the following areas as program priorities:

• Methods To Support the Use of Patient-Centered Measurement in Patient-Centered CER
• Methods To Support the Use of Real-World Data (RWD) in Multi-Site Patient-Centered CER
• Methods To Improve the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in Patient-Centered CER
• Methods To Improve Study Design in Patient-Centered CER

To learn more about this funding opportunity, view the PCORI Applicant Town Hall for the most recent prior award cycle, Cycle 2 2026.

Additional PFAs opening August 4 (with LOIs due September 9 by 5 pm [ET]) include:

• Addressing Health Outcomes for Individuals With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and/or Rare Diseases (RD) PCORI Funding Announcement
  • Applicant Town Hall – August 12 at 12 pm (ET)
• Addressing Substance Use PCORI Funding Announcement
  • Applicant Town Hall – August 18 at 12 pm (ET)
• Advancing the Science of Engagement in Research PCORI Funding Announcement
  • Applicant Town Hall – August 11 at 12 pm (ET)

Contact the PCORnet® Front Door to learn how the PCORnet infrastructure can support your patient-centered research.