The Great Plains Collaborative Network — led by Kansas University Medical Center — received a grant of $8.6 million to continue a research project involving electronic medical records.

The money is from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, which announced the grant this week, according to a KU Medical Center news release. The institute is a nonprofit organization authorized by the U.S. Congress in 2010 as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The Great Plains Collaborative Network includes several other Midwest university hospitals, KU said. The project is building a data set from electronic medical records that will be used to contribute to new research in the fields of breast cancer, obesity and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

Phase II of the grant begins in October. KU said the continuation will allow it to build relationships with other institutions and broaden the network’s scope.