The awards will support 13 clinical effectiveness research studies, including three focused on sleep interventions.

Summary: The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has allocated over $156 million in funding for new patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research and initiatives to strengthen research methods and patient engagement. Among the 13 clinical effectiveness studies funded, three focus on sleep interventions, addressing critical evidence gaps for improving sleep quality and its impact on health outcomes. Additional funding supports research on intellectual and developmental disabilities, gestational diabetes, and smoking cessation, as well as investments in methodological advancements and the implementation of research findings into clinical practice.

Key Takeaways

Significant Investment in Sleep Research: PCORI has funded three sleep-focused studies as part of its $156 million investment.
Broad Scope of Clinical Research: The funding supports diverse research areas, including sleep apnea treatment for individuals with Down syndrome, interventions for gestational diabetes, and follow-up care for bronchiolitis in children.
Strengthening Research Infrastructure: PCORI has allocated $15 million to improve research methods and patient engagement, while $134 million will support PCORnet Clinical Research Networks, further enhancing the infrastructure for patient-centered research.

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has approved funding awards totaling more than $156 million for new patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research, as well as research to improve methods and strengthen the science of engagement in clinical effectiveness research.

“Poor sleep affects more than 50 million people in the United States and is linked to multiple chronic conditions and negative health outcomes,” says PCORI executive director Nakela L. Cook, MD, MPH, in a release “These patient-centered [clinical effectiveness research] studies will fill important evidence gaps on interventions to improve quality sleep, helping patients and those who care for them make better-informed health decisions about an important aspect of their health.”

Among the funding awards for patient-centered clinical effectiveness research are:

Three studies on care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including sleep apnea treatment for people with Down syndrome, early interventions for toddlers with developmental disabilities, and travel training interventions for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Two studies comparing approaches to manage gestational diabetes and postpartum blood pressure.
Studies addressing hip fractures, stroke, inflammatory bowel disease, smoking cessation, intubation in adults, and bronchiolitis follow-up care in children.

PCORI also approved funding awards to implement PCORI-funded clinical effectiveness research results in clinical practice.

Additional funding includes:

$8 million for eight studies to improve methods for conducting clinical effectiveness research.
$7 million for four studies to strengthen the evidence base on effectively engaging patients and other healthcare decision-makers throughout the design and conduct of patient-centered clinical effectiveness research.
$134 million for PCORnet to support eight PCORnet Clinical Research Networks and coordinating center activities.

“By investing in methodological research and studies that add to the evidence base on engagement in research, we are strengthening the foundation of patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research,” says PCORI deputy executive director for patient-centered programs Harv Feldman, MD, MSCE. “Rigorous, evidence-based, and trustworthy approaches are critical to shaping research that generates results patients and their caregivers can rely on. Insights from these PCORI-funded studies will further our mission of producing high-integrity patient-centered [clinical effectiveness research].”

Details of these funding awards, and all the newly funded studies and projects, are available on PCORI’s website. All award funding has been approved pending final PCORI contractual considerations. Since 2010, PCORI has awarded more than $4.5 billion to fund patient-centered clinical effectiveness research and research-related projects.