The human immune system is responsible for defending against bacterial, viral, and other pathogenic threats. It is multifaceted and complex, which makes it especially difficult to understand and target clinically.

Immune dysfunction can impact the body’s ability to fight disease by either becoming under-responsive or going into overdrive, causing the body harm. Once the immune system becomes ‘dysregulated’ the body can develop diseases like type 1 diabetes or sarcoidosis. Milken Institute SPARC has worked in lockstep with high-impact funders, developing giving strategies to support the researchers who seek to expand their understanding of these diseases and the patients and families who live with these conditions.   

The mental health crisis in the US and globally continues to be driven by a multitude of factors. Increasingly, funders are pushed to fund short-term solutions as a response to immediate need. However, long-term, sustainable solutions are needed to ensure that more people can access meaningful care.

Mental health conditions include anxiety, depression, psychological trauma, substance abuse, and increased suicidality, as well as serious mental illnesses like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Targeted, holistic funding approaches for each—that are distinct from other forms of brain illness philanthropy—are needed to improve mental health for all.

Milken Institute Philanthropy’s SPARC has brought together a philanthropic community and led recommendations for investing in transformative research to better understand, treat, and cure mental health conditions; increase access to preventative resources and care; develop effective interventions; and build capacity and diversity within the mental health ecosystem. 

It is believed that there are as many as 8,000 rare diseases collectively affecting one in ten people around the world. These diseases are extremely difficult to diagnose, in part because there is little recognition of the symptoms or consensus on diagnostic criteria. For example, some people with rare diseases can go as many as ten years (and some have gone even longer) before getting to a proper diagnosis, only to find that treatments are hard to come by, ineffective, and/or cause debilitating side effects. They also may experience the loneliness and hopelessness that results from a condition that is not widely discussed, and are thus less likely to have a community that provides support or empathy. 

From misophonia to sarcoidosis, the Milken Institute has worked with donors with firsthand experience of rare and difficult to diagnose conditions, bringing experts from multiple sectors and fields together with patients [people with lived experiences] to understand the landscape and work toward better diagnostics and treatments.