Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is quickly becoming a research priority for NIH and the federal government as a whole. Congress set aside $1.1 billion in ARRA funding for CER, including $400 million for NIH, and directed the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to develop a formal definition and identify ways to build CER nationally.  The IOM's June 30, 2009, report Initial National Priorities for Comparative Effectiveness Research is available online.

NIH has put together a CER Coordinating Committee and plans to build a database of projects that meet the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s CER Priority Conditions for its Effective Health Care Program.

Source: NIAID Funding News, August 26, 2009 http://www.niaid.nih.gov/ncn/newsletters/2009/0826.htm#a01