AHRQ Training Projects Funded by PCOR Trust Fund

AHRQ uses some of the funds it receives from the Patient-Centered Outcome Research (PCOR) Trust Fund to establish grants to train researchers.

Projects to date include:

• Learning Health System Embedded Scientist Training and Research (LHS E-StaR) Centers
  
  These scientist training and research centers will be funded over 5 years to support learning health systems, including patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research. Through this joint initiative, AHRQ and PCORI continue their mutual commitment to support learning health systems by training a new cadre of learning health system scientists. Grantees will create new models of learning health system infrastructure that will use evidence generated by these scientists' research to optimize care as quickly, broadly, and equitably as possible and ultimately improve health outcomes. 

• Training in Patient-Centered Outcome Research

  The Affordable Care Act provides an opportunity to build capacity in PCOR, specifically with regard to training in the methods used to conduct such research. A focus for these fellowships is recruiting trainees from diverse disciplines, including social and behavioral sciences, business, and engineering. The expected output of these grants is trained PCOR researchers.

• Research Career Enhancement Awards for Established Investigators in Patient-Centered Outcomes Research

  These career development awards allow flexibility for established investigators to devote a minimum of 50 percent effort across a 6-month to 1-year period to augment or redirect their research focus and to further develop their research expertise in PCOR methodologies. The expected output of these grants is accelerated development of the research workforce capable of conducting PCOR at the associate and full professor level.

• Pathway to Independence in Patient-Centered Outcomes Research

  The Pathway to Independence Award facilitates the transition of outstanding postdoctoral candidates from mentored to independent research positions. The award contains two components, a mentored (K99) phase of 1 to 2 years and an independent (R00) phase with duration of 3 years. Activation of the independent award phase is contingent upon the investigator securing an independent research position. The expected output of these grants is accelerated transition to tenure and productivity of PCOR researchers.

• Infrastructure Development Program in Patient-Centered Outcomes Research

  This initiative funds a 5-year, renewable effort to support the development of PCOR capacity among institutions that have basic health services research capacity but need focused support to develop capacity to conduct and implement PCOR. These emerging centers of excellence potentially include institutions located in geographic areas that currently lack capacity and institutions that serve predominantly minority populations.

• Institutional Mentored Career Development Award Program in Patient-Centered Outcomes Research

  This concept launches a multiyear, large-scale effort to support the development of researchers in academic and applied settings (e.g., the health care delivery system, State and local governments, health plans, and research networks). The program combines didactic and experiential opportunities, focusing on the generation, adoption, and spread of new scientific evidence. The expected output of these grants is improved population-specific health outcomes as a result of developing and disseminating evidence-based information to patients, clinicians, and other decisionmakers on which interventions are most effective for which patients under specific circumstances.

• Researcher Training and Workforce Development in Methods and Standards for Conducting Patient-Centered Health Outcomes Research Studies

  This project provides basic, advanced, and experiential training on the methods to conduct PCOR, particularly prospective observational research, registries, and clinical trials. The basic training component develops training modules focused on recognized research standards. The advanced training component creates a national collaborative learning network on new and innovative methods for conducting PCOR studies. The experiential program establishes an AHRQ Scholars Program, a year-long research enrichment program in which scholars are mentored at AHRQ, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and the National Institutes of Health.

• Individual Mentored Clinical Investigator Career Development Award Program in Patient-Centered Outcomes Research

  This program provides support for a sustained period of protected time for intensive research career development for individual investigators in academic or applied settings, leading to research independence in the field of PCOR. The training of clinical doctorates will focus on the generation and translation of new scientific evidence and analytic tools. In particular, the emphasis is on developing and enhancing the research and methodological capacities for conducting PCOR and for the integration of evidence into practice and decisionmaking in the health care system.

• Individual Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award Program in Patient-Centered Outcomes Research

  This program provides support for a sustained period of protected time for intensive research career development for individual investigators in academic or applied settings, leading to research independence in the field of PCOR. The training of research doctorates will focus on the generation and translation of new scientific evidence and analytic tools. In particular, the emphasis is on developing and enhancing the research and methodological capacities for conducting PCOR and for the integration of evidence into practice and decisionmaking in the health care system.