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.
FORCE believes that scientific discovery is one of the most powerful tools we have to change that reality. 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.
Our goal is not simply to fund research. It is to strengthen the entire OCD research ecosystem that transforms scientific discovery into better lives.
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, improved neuroimaging methods, expanded human brain research, and begun testing new classes of interventions.
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 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.
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 rigorous, innovative, translational, and community-informed.
Science Should Be Accessible
Scientific discovery changes lives only when it reaches the people it was meant to serve.
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.
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.
How FORCE Creates Impact
Research Funding
FORCE is developing multiple funding models — including competitive grants, strategic research partnerships, and community-supported initiatives — to accelerate innovative OCD research.
- 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. Scientific discovery accelerates when ideas move freely between laboratories, clinics, and the communities they exist to serve.
Research Participation
Scientific discovery depends on volunteers. FORCE will help connect individuals and families with opportunities to participate in research studies, clinical trials, registries, and other scientific initiatives.
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.
Lived Experience in Research
People living with OCD are not simply beneficiaries of research — they are partners in it. Their experiences help identify unanswered questions, define meaningful outcomes, improve recruitment, strengthen study design, and keep scientific discovery grounded in real life.
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.
By investing in bold ideas, strengthening partnerships, increasing participation, translating science, and growing the OCD research ecosystem, FORCE hopes to accelerate discoveries that lead to earlier diagnosis, more personalized treatments, improved quality of life, and fewer years lost to obsessive-compulsive disorder.
That future will not be built by any one laboratory or organization. It will be built by an entire ecosystem working together.
Help build the future of OCD research.
Your support helps FORCE strengthen the research ecosystem that moves scientific discovery closer to the people it was created to serve.
Support Research