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CURES IN
OUR LIFETIME
Accelerating cancer research into cures
Curebound is a San Diego-based 501c3 philanthropic organization that raises and invests strategic funding in translational cancer research projects aimed at accelerating new discoveries to clinical application.
About Us
Curebound is headquartered in San Diego amidst a unique combination of three NCI-cancer centers, clinical care hospitals, biotech companies, venture capital investors, philanthropic networks, and most importantly- a regional culture that embraces the spirit of collaboration.
This ecosystem positions San Diego and Curebound at the forefront of discovery - bringing genomic medicine, new technologies and clinical trials to market and presents an unprecedented opportunity for research collaboration. We believe that the next decade will be critical to the development of sophisticated, personalized approaches in the way we prevent, treat and ultimately find cures for cancer.
Curebound is committed to investing $100 million into collaborative cancer research in San Diego to make the vision of cures in our lifetime a reality.
Our Mission
Mobilize San Diego to accelerate cures for cancer in our lifetime.
CANCER IS RELENTLESS.
WE MUST BE TOO.
Background
Launched in 2021, Curebound united two highly respected cancer organizations, Padres Pedal the Cause and Immunotherapy Foundation, both of which were founded by families whose lives were changed by cancer.
Padres Pedal the Cause was founded by Bill Koman, a two-time lymphoma survivor, and his wife Amy. Deeply grateful for the life-saving care that Bill received, the Koman family is committed to ensuring the same outcome for others. In 2013, Amy and Bill Koman created Padres Pedal the Cause, a cancer fundraising cycling challenge operated in partnership with the San Diego Padres that has raised $20+ million for early-phase research in San Diego.
‘Padres Pedal’ is an outgrowth of Pedal the Cause St. Louis (founded by the Komans in 2009), which has raised and donated over $40 million to fund 169 innovative research grants at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine. The Koman family also established the Cancer Frontier Fund in partnership with the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation and worked to create the Illumination Gala, which has become the gold standard for this type of signature event, having raised $35+ million on its own over the last decade. Collectively, these efforts have raised close to $95 million dollars for cancer research across the country, which has led to millions more in follow-on funding from additional grant sources.
In 2015, Ralph and Fernanda Whitworth established the Immunotherapy Foundation (IF) to accelerate precision cancer immunotherapy research into better treatments for patients. A year later, Ralph lost his battle with cancer, but his vision lives on through IF’s work. In just six years, IF contributed over $5.5M to promising cancer research, cancer prevention and patient support initiatives. Funds from IF helped to seed and operationalize the Advanced Cell Therapy Lab and enabled the creation of the San Diego Center for Precision Immunotherapy, both as UC San Diego. IF was instrumental in establishing a cutting-edge neoantigen discovery platform with multiple therapeutic applications, including two first-in-kind Phase I clinical trials- a personalized cancer vaccine and personalized cell therapy. In addition, IF worked to create an HPV cancer prevention curriculum for community health workers and supported cancer immunotherapy summits for patients and caregivers.
These two organizations share the belief that cures are possible. Curebound is a bold step toward realizing that vision. To support the vision of a world without cancer, please consider making a donation today.
SCIENTIFIC
ADVISORY BOARD
JOHN HOOD, Ph.D., Chairperson
CEO, Endeavor Biomedicines
PAULA ARISTIZABAL, MD, MAS
Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist, Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego
EZRA COHEN, MD, FRCPSC, FASCO
Chief Science Advisor, Curebound
CHRISTIAN DIMAANO, Ph.D., MPH
Vice President, Medical Affairs at Lassen Therapeutics
BRENDAN ECKELMAN, Ph.D.
Co-founder, Chief Science Officer and Executive Vice President of Inhibrx
JON EDWARDS, Ph.D.
RICH HEYMAN, Ph.D.
Partner, ARCH Venture Partners
NANCY HONG, Ph.D.
MITCHELL KRONENBERG, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer, La Jolla Institute for Immunology
ANDREW LAM, Pharm.D.
Senior Vice President, Ally Bridge Group
SCOTT LIPPMAN, MD
Senior Associate Dean and Associate Vice Chancellor for Cancer Research and Care, Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health
MONAL MEHTA, Ph.D.
Therapeutics Analyst on the Avidity Partners
ZE'EV RONAI, Ph.D.
Director, Sanford Burnham Prebys Cancer Center; Jeanne and Gary Herberger Leadership Chair in Cancer Research
REUBEN SHAW, Ph.D.
Director, Salk Institute Cancer Center Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory William R. Brody Chair
COURT R. TURNER, JD
Partner, LYZZ Capital
ASHLEY VAN ZEELAND, Ph.D. MBA
VP, Corporate and Business Development
TRAVIS YOUNG, Ph.D.
VP Biologics, Calibr at Scripps Research
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
Bill Koman, Chairperson
CEO, Koman Group; Founder, Padres Pedal the Cause
Cheryl A.M. Anderson, Ph.D., MPH, MS
Professor and Dean, Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science
Donald Ankeny
President and CEO, Westcore
Laurence H. Bloch
Private Investor & Former Chairman TransWestern Publishing Company
Mark Cafferty
CEO, San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation
Aaron Davis
CEO, Boxer Capital
Rich Heyman, Ph.D.
Partner at ARCH Venture Partners
John Hood, Ph.D.
CEO, Endeavor Biomedicines
Catriona Jamieson, MD, Ph.D.
Deputy Director, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center Professor of Medicine and Chief, Division of Regenerative Medicine
Donald B. Kearns, M.D., M.M.M.
President Emeritus, Rady Children’s Hospital
Julie Tafel Klaus
Retired Publishing/ Philanthropist
Anne Marbarger
CEO, Curebound
Magda Margquet, Ph.D.
Co - Founder of AltheaDX and ALMA Life Sciences, LLC
Daniel J. Ryan
Co-Chief Investment Officer and Regional Market Director of San Diego - Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.
ROB SINGH
President & CEO, CONAM
Robin Toft
Global Life Sciences & Boardroom Diversity Advisor | ZRG Partners, LLC
Christian F. Tresse
Principal, Bernstein Private Wealth Management
Court R. Turner, JD
Partner, LYZZ Capital Advisors
Fernanda Whitworth
Founder, Immunotherapy Foundation
Malin Burnham, Advisory
Chairman, Burnham Foundation
Jay Levitt, Honorary
Former CEO, Lofta Inc.
CUREBOUND
TEAM
ANNE MARBARGER
Chief Executive Officer
EZRA COHEN, M.D.
Chief Science Advisor
KAREN HOOPER
Chief Strategy and Implementation Officer
CLARE MCGOWAN, PH.D.
Senior Director of Research
KATE SINCLAIR
Communications + Creative Director
Executive Producer, Concert for Cures
HEATHER DEAN-PRESNALL
Strategic Philanthropy Officer
SHANNON GILL
Community Engagement Director
MEGAN WADDELL
Padres Pedal the Cause Event Director
DANI DAWSON
Chief Development Officer
LIZ DIGERONIMO
Padres Pedal the Cause Senior Manager
RAHUL SARIPALLI
Research & Operations Associate
ADAM WILLIAMS
Marketing & Communications Manager
KYLE HARKER
Event Operations Coordinator
RYLEE JOHNSON
Community Engagement Coordinator
PARTNERS AND
SPONSORS
Curebound is proud to partner with these corporate leaders who share a commitment to creating a world without cancer. Together, we can go further, move faster and do more to accelerate cures for patients today.
