The PhRMA Foundation’s Predoctoral Fellowship in Value Assessment-Health Outcomes Research (VA-HOR) is designed to support promising students (U.S. and non-U.S. citizens) during advanced stages of training and thesis research in value assessment and health outcomes research.
Deadline: Oct. 30, 2025 (noon ET)
Areas of Interest
The PhRMA Foundation seeks research proposals that investigate challenges and potential solutions related to evaluating the delivery, safe use, effectiveness, and value (clinical, patient-centered, and economic) of medicines and other health care interventions. Proposals could be empirical analyses or studies addressing methodological aspects of the following areas:
- Real-world outcomes using real-world data and analytic tools
- Clinical outcomes assessments
- Patient-reported and/or patient-centered outcomes, especially for diverse and underserved populations
- Patient- and equity-centered value assessment frameworks
- Economic evaluations of health care interventions
- Health preference research, particularly the perspectives of patients
- Development of innovative decision and value communication tools
- Evaluation and outcomes assessments focused on health equity and unmet need
- Innovative methods for measuring and reporting novel value elements from different stakeholder perspectives
Eligibility Requirements
- Applicants (U.S. and non-U.S. citizens) must attend an accredited U.S. university as full-time, in-residence students.
- Individuals just beginning graduate school should not apply. Applicants will have completed most of their pre-thesis requirements (at least two years of coursework) and be engaged in thesis research as PhD candidates by the time the award is activated. Award activation can begin as early as April 1, 2026, or as late as December 1, 2026.
- Applicants who expect to complete their PhD requirements before April 1, 2027, should not apply.
- Applicants enrolled in MD/PhD programs should not be engaged in required clinical coursework or clerkships while the fellowship is active. Fellows are expected to devote full time to their research.
- Predoctoral fellowships should not be seen as a way to fund the principal investigator’s currently funded research project.
- Applicants currently funded on an institutional training grant (e.g., NIH TL1, T32, T90, or T35 awards or a nonprofit/professional society equivalent) may apply if they state they will forgo the institutional training slot if funded by a PhRMA Foundation predoctoral award.
- Applicants are ineligible if they are the recipient of an NIH-F award.
- An individual may not simultaneously hold another funding mechanism providing stipend support while the PhRMA Foundation predoctoral fellowship is active. If necessary, the university may supplement the award to a level that is consistent with other predoctoral fellowships it offers.
- Only one predoctoral applicant per research group may apply for this award. If multiple applicants apply, they will automatically be ineligible. Potential applicants and their thesis advisors should decide who will apply.
- The Foundation will not consider multiple applications for the same or similar efforts on the same project. If multiple applicants are submitting proposed efforts on the same project, the efforts must be separate activities and not duplicative. This pertains to applications in all categories of our VA-HOR program (predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships and faculty starter grants).
Amount Description
- This award provides $30,000 in stipend support per year for 12, 18, or 24 months.