Obsessive-compulsive disorder affects millions of people worldwide, yet research funding, scientific investment, and public understanding remain disproportionately low relative to its prevalence and burden. Although decades of research have transformed our understanding of OCD and led to highly effective treatments for many people, enormous scientific questions remain unanswered. Many individuals continue to experience severe symptoms despite receiving excellent care, while others spend years without an accurate diagnosis or access to evidence-based treatment.
FORCE believes that scientific discovery is one of the most powerful tools we have to change that reality.
Scientific discovery changes lives.
But discovery does not happen on its own.
It happens because an entire ecosystem works together—researchers, participants, clinicians, institutions, funders, science communicators, and people living with OCD.
Every breakthrough depends on that ecosystem.
Scientific progress is not a straight line from laboratory to clinic.
Questions raised by people living with OCD help shape research priorities. Research generates discoveries that improve clinical care. Clinical experience reveals new unanswered questions. Education and science communication help those discoveries reach the broader community. Those communities, in turn, become partners in the next generation of research.
FORCE exists to strengthen every step of that cycle.
Our research work is guided by a simple belief: every major advance in OCD care begins with better science. Today’s evidence-based therapies, medications, brain stimulation approaches, and emerging treatments all exist because researchers asked difficult questions, challenged existing
assumptions, and spent years carefully testing new ideas. The breakthroughs of tomorrow will require the same commitment—and greater investment.
Our goal is not simply to fund research. It is to strengthen the entire research ecosystem within the broader OCD ecosystem that transforms scientific discovery into better lives—from supporting bold ideas and early-career investigators to expanding participation, fostering collaboration, translating discoveries into clinical practice, and ensuring new knowledge reaches the people it was created to serve.
Why OCD Research Matters
Every person who has ever benefited from Exposure and Response Prevention, serotonin reuptake inhibitors, deep brain stimulation, or other evidence-based interventions has benefited from decades of research that made those treatments possible.
Research has fundamentally changed what we know about OCD. Scientists have identified brain circuits involved in the disorder, discovered hundreds of genetic variants that contribute to risk, developed sophisticated animal models, improved neuroimaging methods, expanded human postmortem brain research, and begun testing entirely new classes of interventions—from precision neuromodulation to glutamatergic therapies and psychedelic-assisted treatments.
These discoveries have dramatically improved the field.
But they have not answered its biggest questions.
We still do not know why OCD develops in one person but not another. We cannot reliably predict which treatment will work best for a given individual. We lack objective biomarkers that can aid diagnosis or personalize treatment. Many people remain treatment-resistant despite receiving the best care currently available.
The next generation of discoveries has the potential to change all of that.
The Research Gap
Despite OCD affecting millions of people worldwide, investment in OCD research remains disproportionately low compared with many other psychiatric and neurological conditions.
Scientific potential exists.
Investment does not.
This gap has real consequences. Every promising idea that goes unfunded is a potential discovery delayed. Every laboratory that leaves the field represents discoveries that may never happen. Every trainee who chooses another disorder because funding is more available is one fewer scientist asking questions about OCD. Year after year, underinvestment slows progress toward earlier diagnosis, better treatments, more personalized care, and a deeper understanding of the disorder.
FORCE believes closing this gap requires more than simply increasing research budgets. It requires strengthening the entire ecosystem that allows scientific discovery to happen.
Our Philosophy of Research
FORCE believes research should be:
Scientifically rigorous
Projects should be grounded in strong methodology, transparency, and reproducible science.
Innovative
We want to support bold ideas capable of changing how OCD is understood, diagnosed, or treated.
Translational
The ultimate purpose of research is improving people’s lives. We prioritize work capable of moving discoveries from the laboratory toward clinical impact.
Community-informed
People living with OCD should help shape research priorities. Their experiences identify important questions that science has not yet answered.
Science Should Be Accessible
Scientific discovery changes lives only when it reaches the people it was meant to serve.
Scientific discovery is only the beginning. Knowledge changes lives only when it can move beyond the laboratory—when it becomes understandable, trusted, implemented, and accessible to the people it was created to help.
Too often, research remains confined to academic journals, conference presentations, and technical language that never reaches the people it was intended to help.
FORCE believes science communication is not separate from research—it is part of research.
We work to translate complex neuroscience into clear, accurate, evidence-based resources that patients, families, clinicians, educators, policymakers, donors, and the broader public can understand.
Making science more accessible increases research participation, strengthens public trust, improves clinical practice, and helps discoveries reach the people whose lives they are meant to improve.
Building the OCD Research Ecosystem
Scientific discovery is often associated with individual laboratories or breakthrough studies.
In reality, progress depends on an entire ecosystem.
Researchers generate new ideas. Participants volunteer for studies. Institutions provide infrastructure. Donors make ambitious projects possible. Clinicians translate evidence into practice. Science communicators bring discoveries to the public. And people living with OCD help identify the questions that matter most.
When any part of that ecosystem is weakened, scientific progress slows.
FORCE exists not only to fund research, but to strengthen the people, partnerships, and infrastructure that make discovery possible.
We believe advancing OCD research means building an ecosystem where researchers, clinicians, people with lived experience, institutions, funders, policymakers, and communities work together to accelerate scientific progress.
Growing the Field
Scientific breakthroughs begin with people. Every future discovery depends on someone deciding to study OCD, ask a new question, pursue an unconventional idea, or dedicate their career to understanding the disorder. The future of OCD research depends on attracting far more people into the field—not only funding the scientists already in it.
FORCE wants to help grow the next generation of OCD researchers by increasing visibility, supporting trainees, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration, creating networking opportunities, showcasing emerging investigators, and helping more scientists see OCD as a field where they can make a meaningful impact.
Expanding OCD research is not only about funding existing laboratories. It is also about attracting new people, new ideas, and new perspectives into the field. It is also about inspiring students, early-career scientists, clinicians, and researchers from adjacent disciplines to bring their expertise into OCD.
How FORCE Creates Impact
FORCE is developing multiple complementary approaches to strengthen the OCD research ecosystem.
Research Funding
FORCE is developing multiple funding models—including competitive grants, strategic research partnerships, and community-supported initiatives—to accelerate innovative OCD research.
Our goal is not simply to fund more studies. It is to invest in discoveries with the potential to fundamentally change how OCD is understood, diagnosed, treated, and ultimately prevented.
Our long-term vision includes supporting:
- Basic neuroscience
- Genetics and genomics
- Human brain research
- Clinical trials
- Treatment development
- Pediatric OCD
- Treatment-resistant OCD
- Implementation science
- Access-to-care research
- Lived-experience-informed research
Research Partnerships
FORCE seeks long-term partnerships with researchers and institutions working to advance OCD science.
Rather than funding projects in isolation, we aim to build lasting collaborations that connect researchers with participants, clinicians, donors, advocates, policymakers, and the broader OCD community. Scientific discovery accelerates when ideas move freely between laboratories, clinics, and the communities they exist to serve.
Research Participation
Scientific discovery depends on volunteers. Every major advance in OCD treatment exists because someone chose to participate in research. Participation is one of the most meaningful ways people can directly contribute to the future of OCD care.
FORCE will help connect individuals and families with opportunities to participate in research studies, clinical trials, registries, and other scientific initiatives.
Increasing participation accelerates discovery while ensuring research reflects the diversity of the OCD community. Every person who participates in research helps move the field forward—not only for themselves, but for everyone who will be diagnosed in the future.
Science Communication
Research only changes lives if people understand it.
FORCE is committed to translating complex neuroscience into clear, accurate, accessible education through articles, videos, talks, podcasts, workshops, community events, and public-facing research updates.
Helping people understand science is not separate from scientific progress—it is one of the ways scientific progress happens.
Lived Experience in Research
FORCE believes that people living with OCD are not simply beneficiaries of research—they are partners in it.
People living with OCD understand aspects of the disorder that cannot be measured through a research study alone. Their experiences help identify unanswered questions, define meaningful outcomes, improve recruitment and retention, strengthen study design, increase accessibility, and ensure scientific discoveries remain grounded in the realities of living with OCD.
The future of OCD research should be informed by both scientific expertise and lived experience. Neither replaces the other. Together, they create better science.
Looking Ahead
The future of OCD research will require collaboration across neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology, genetics, immunology, computational science, engineering, implementation science, public health, and lived experience.
It will require sustained investment, bold ideas, transparent communication, and partnerships that extend beyond traditional academic boundaries. FORCE exists to strengthen the OCD research ecosystem as part of building a stronger OCD ecosystem overall.
By investing in bold ideas, strengthening partnerships, increasing participation, translating science, and growing the OCD research ecosystem, we hope to accelerate discoveries that lead to earlier diagnosis, more personalized treatments, improved quality of life, and fewer years lost to obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Our ultimate goal is not simply to fund more studies.
It is to help build a future where OCD is understood earlier, diagnosed sooner, treated more effectively, personalized more precisely, and, one day, prevented altogether.
That future will not be built by any one laboratory or organization.
It will be built by an entire ecosystem working together.
FORCE exists to help build that ecosystem.
Accelerate OCD discovery.
Support research that can help move the field toward earlier diagnosis, better treatments, and fewer years lost to OCD.