Misophonia is a condition in which specific sensory sensations lead to a strong physical and emotional response. The stimuli causing the response are often referred to as “triggers,” including the sound of people eating, nasal noises like sniffling, and sounds associated with fidgeting like clicking a pen. Exposure to triggers causes the misophonia sufferer to experience a stereotyped physical and emotional response, which includes an increased heart rate, sweating, and activation of stress or anger response. People describe feeling intense anxiety, rage, fear, or the desire to flee.

Philanthropic capital can play a pivotal role in biomedical research, especially in emerging scientific disciplines like misophonia. Donors’ funding can support pilot studies needed to develop an evidence base that will attract additional research grants from larger grant programs. Since 2018, Milken Institute Philanthropy has been working in concert with the Misophonia Research Fund to solicit and fund scientific research aimed at advancing research and alleviating the hardship misophonia causes. To date, the Fund has awarded more than $12 million to support key research with a high potential to yield impactful results. Read more about this partnership here.