PCORI Opens $120 Million for Health Research with New AI and ML Focus
April 5, 2026 · 2 min read
Jared Klein
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute opened five major funding opportunities on April 1, headlined by up to $120 million for broad pragmatic health studies and a new priority on artificial intelligence and machine learning methods in clinical research.
The Cycle 2 2026 funding announcements signal PCORI's growing appetite for AI-enabled research — and a significant pot of money for investigators who can design large-scale comparative effectiveness studies.
$120 Million for Pragmatic Studies
The Broad Pragmatic Studies program will fund research comparing clinical interventions and healthcare delivery systems. Awards are structured in three categories: up to $5 million in direct costs (Category 1), up to $12 million (Category 2), and up to $12 million for studies using the PCORnet national clinical research network (Category 3).
PCORI has flagged four areas of emphasis: addressing obesity, diabetes prevention and care, urogynecological and pelvic pain management, and pain management for individuals with sickle cell disease.
AI and Machine Learning Earns Its Own Priority
The Methods funding announcement now explicitly prioritizes "Methods to Support the Use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Patient-Centered CER." PCORI's portfolio already includes over 40 AI-related projects, and the institute recently launched a supplemental program allowing current awardees to incorporate large language model research into ongoing work.
This marks a deliberate institutional bet that AI methods will reshape how comparative effectiveness research gets designed and executed.
Key Deadlines and How to Apply
Letters of intent for all five funding opportunities are due April 28, 2026, at 5 p.m. ET. Full applications — by invitation only — are due September 1, 2026. Virtual applicant town halls run April 6-10.
Health researchers exploring AI-augmented study designs should also visit grantedai.com for analysis of AI research funding trends across federal and independent funders.
For a deeper look at how PCORI's AI priorities compare to NIH and DOE approaches, see the Granted blog.