National Institutes of Health

Description

Purpose. This NIH Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), supported by funds provided to the NIH and AHRQ under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ('Recovery Act" or "ARRA"), Public Law 111-5, invites applications to enhance, develop, or evaluate methodologies to improve the efficiency, validity, and credibility of comparative effectiveness research (CER) studies.CER encompasses a wide array of methodologies, including technology assessment, meta-analysis, systematic reviews, observational studies, and experimental trials.Each of these methodologies suffers from substantial weaknesses that limit their ability to rapidly provide information sought by patients, clinicians, and other stakeholders to make robust evidence-based decisions on clinical practice and public policy.Research is needed to develop better methods for measuring or reducing these weaknesses, which include, for example, confounding bias in observational studies and selection bias in randomized trials.For the purposes of this FOA, the definition of comparative effectiveness research will adhere to that adopted by the Federal Coordinating Council given at http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/cer/cerannualrpt.pdfComparative effectiveness research is the conduct and synthesis of research comparing the benefits and harms of different interventions and strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat and monitor health conditions in "real world" settings. The purpose of this research is to improve health outcomes by developing and disseminating evidence-based information to patients, clinicians, and other decision-makers, responding to their expressed needs, about which interventions are most effective for which patients under specific circumstances.

Who can apply

• State governments
• County governments
• City or township governments
• Special district governments
• Independent school districts
• Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
• Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
• Public housing authorities / Indian housing authorities
• Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized)
• Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education)
• Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education)
• Private institutions of higher education
• For-profit organizations other than small businesses
• Small businesses
• Others

Contact

NIH OER Webmaster <br/>FBOWebmaster@OD.NIH.GOV
FBOWebmaster@OD.NIH.GOV