PCORI awards funding for second phase of clinical research network

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute today awarded $142.5 million in funding to 34 research networks to participate in the second phase of its National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network. The expanded PCORnet includes 13 Clinical Data Research Networks, which involve two or more health care systems, and 21 Patient-Powered Research Networks, run by groups of patients and their partners. "Our main goal for the next three years is to sharply ramp up PCORnet's capacity to serve as the platform for rapidly and efficiently conducting high-quality, patient-centered studies," said Rachael Fleurence, director of PCORI's Comparative Effectiveness Research Methods and Infrastructure Program. The funding was approved pending final staff review and a formal award contract.