A recently announced $74 million grants program includes a $9.7 million award for a project focused on comparing physical therapy with cognitive behavioral therapy in the treatment of chronic nonspecific low back pain. APTA member Julie Fritz, PT, PhD, is the principal investigator for the study.

The grant to Fritz's research is part of another round of funding sponsored by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 2010. The most recent grants program is intended to support effectiveness research studies on conditions that "impose high burdens on patients, caregivers, and the health care system," according to PCORI.

Research related to physical therapy remains of special interest to the institute. In 2016, PCORI awarded a $12.5 million grant to a project that is investigating the effectiveness of interdisciplinary teams that include a physical therapist (PT) in pain management, and, in 2015, the group awarded nearly $28 million in support for 2 research projects led by PTs.