A new cycle of funding for as much as $96 million in comparative-effectiveness research is now open, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute announced Monday.

Authorized by Congress, PCORI conducts research intended to provide information about the best available evidence for patients and their healthcare providers to make better-informed decisions. This announcement follows the institute's first funding cycle announcement in May, and both address four of the five focus areas in the organization's National Priorities for Research and Research Agenda: assessment of prevention, diagnosis and treatment options; improving healthcare systems; communication and dissemination; and addressing healthcare disparities. An additional PCORI funding announcement, expected this fall, will address the fifth priority: accelerating patient-centered and methodological research.

"As with all of our work, our latest funding cycle seeks applications for rigorously designed studies that involve patients and stakeholders on the research team and that answer questions of greatest concern to patients," Dr. Joe Selby, PCORI's executive director, said in a news release.

Applicants' research teams must engage patients and caregivers throughout the process, from posing research questions to conducting research, according to PCORI's requirements.