The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has announced grants totaling $123 million in support of 15 new research studies.

The studies are aimed at filling evidence gaps, enhancing research methods, and improving healthcare decision making for a range of high-burden health concerns among adults and children in underserved populations that historically experience the greatest disparities in health outcomes.

Four grants will support multiyear comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) studies focused on postpartum care, including $10.8 million to AcademyHealth, $15 million to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, $6.6 million to the Medical University of South Carolina, and $18.5 million to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Two grants will support CER studies to access remote blood pressure monitoring, including $20 million to Yale University and $17.8 million to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Other recipients include Denver Health ($6.6 million), which will study the reduction of unnecessary antibiotic use for ear infections in children; UCSF ($6.5 million), which will compare approaches to screening for hearing loss among preschool-age children; and the George Washington University ($11.9 million), which will address ways to improve decision making and access to non-dialytic treatment for patients with advanced kidney disease.

In addition, PCORI awarded two implementation grants totaling $4.1 million to accelerate uptake of strategies shown in PCORI-funded studies—a grant to Indiana University, which will work to improve decision making about colorectal cancer screening, and another to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which will work to improve outcomes for patients with asthma.

“These latest awards demonstrate PCORI’s commitment to funding important research addressing evidence gaps on key health issues identified through the ongoing input and guidance of patients and stakeholders, including the persistent and worsening maternal health crisis that is a priority for PCORI,” said PCORI executive director Nakela L. Cook. “The research…will provide sound evidence to help patients and those who care for them make sense of their many options in a complex healthcare environment.”

For a list of newly funded studies and projects, see the PCORI website.

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