Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a sub-agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, administers federal grant funding for comparative effectiveness research, health services research, and evidence-based practice initiatives that inform healthcare policy and clinical decision-making. AHRQ does not award contracts; it operates exclusively through grant mechanisms to support research institutions, academic medical centers, and health services organizations.

AHRQ has obligated $842.5 million in federal grant funding across 404 awards since 2007, with recent annual activity showing 35 awards in 2020, 20 in 2021, 44 in 2022, 37 in 2023, and 22 in 2024. The most recent recorded award closed on September 30, 2024. Grant recipients span 119 distinct organizations across the portfolio history. AHRQ structures nearly all awards as Project Grants (399 of 404 awards); Cooperative Agreements account for the remaining 1 percent.

Grant recipient concentration is highly fragmented. The top five recipients by award count over the last five years hold 24 percent of recent awards, with Brigham & Womens Hospital Inc. and the Regents of The University of Michigan each securing six awards, followed by Baylor College of Medicine with five, and Medstar Health Research Institute Inc. and Vanderbilt University Medical Center each with four. By federal dollars obligated, concentration remains highly fragmented at 8 percent coverage among the top five. Baylor College of Medicine ($15.8 million), Brigham & Womens Hospital Inc. ($15.5 million), and Medstar Health Research Institute Inc. ($13.9 million) lead by federal dollars, though the dollar-per-award range across top recipients is relatively narrow ($2.0 million to $3.1 million per award on average), indicating consistent funding levels across high-frequency awardees rather than a small number of large awards dominating the portfolio.

No recent contract opportunities or grant opportunities are recorded against AHRQ or its descendant offices in available source data.