Broad Pragmatic Studies (BPS) PCORI Funding

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) intends to release a Broad Pragmatic Studies (BPS) PCORI Funding Announcement (PFA) on April 1, 2025, seeking to fund patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) projects. This preannouncement provides potential applicants additional time to identify collaborators; obtain patient, community and partner input on potential studies; and create responsive, high-quality proposals.

All applications must align the proposed research with at least one of four of PCORI’s National Priorities for Health described within the PFA. The remaining National Priority, Enhance Infrastructure to Accelerate Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, is covered by other PCORI funding opportunities and considered nonresponsive to this PFA. PCORI’s Research Project Agenda includes a set of Topic Themes that are also included in this funding opportunity and further detailed below. Applicants have the option to choose up to three Topic Themes within the Research Project Agenda based on how their proposed research aligns with the themes. However, aligning with a Topic Theme is not required. The National Priorities for Health and Topic Themes will assist PCORI in determining the optimal review pathway for the proposed research.  

Applicants are strongly encouraged to propose individual or cluster randomized controlled trials; however, well-specified natural experiments and well-designed observational studies will also be considered. Proposed studies should include an overall sample size that will allow precision in the estimation of hypothesized effect sizes and, as appropriate, analysis of heterogeneity of treatment effect. Applicants are encouraged to pay special attention to issues of intervention implementation with an aim of facilitating widespread uptake of findings after completion of the study by utilizing hybrid effectiveness-implementation approaches. However, strict implementation or dissemination studies will not be considered responsive, nor will studies focused on the development of research methods. Applicants should propose well-justified and validated outcomes that are clinically meaningful and considered important by patients, and that can be impacted by the proposed interventions within the study duration.

Applicants should consider, as appropriate, the full range of clinical and patient-centered outcomes data relevant to patients and other stakeholders. PCORI’s Principles for the Consideration of the Full Range of Outcomes Data in PCORI-Funded Research inform the expectations for applicants and the corresponding evaluation of applications submitted in response to this PFA.

For more information including key dates and application information, please see here.