2023 Curebound Concert for Cures Raises $5.5 Million for Cancer Research! Check it out here.
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.
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 and a vision world without cancer. Curebound is a bold step toward realizing that vision.
To support the vision of a world without cancer, please consider making a donation today. Donate here.
CEO, Endeavor Biomedicines
Managing Director, Red Tree Venture Capital
CEO & Co-Founder Metacrine, Inc.
Managing Director, RiverVest Venture Partners
Lita Annenberg Hazen Professor of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute
Senior Associate Dean and Associate Vice Chancellor for Cancer Research and Care, Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health
Director, Sanford Burnham Prebys Cancer Center; Jeanne and Gary Herberger Leadership Chair in Cancer Research
Director, Salk Institute Cancer Center Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory William R. Brody Chair
Partner, LYZZ Capital
Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist, Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego
Vice President, Head of Illumina Open Innovation
Chief Science Advisor, Curebound
Chief Scientific Officer, La Jolla Institute for Immunology
Therapeutics Analyst on the Avidity Partners
Vice President, Head of Medical Affairs at Kinnate Biopharma
Senior Vice President, Ally Bridge Group
CEO, Koman Group; Founder, Padres Pedal the Cause
Founder, Immunotherapy Foundation
Private Investor & Former Chairman TransWestern Publishing Company
CEO, San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation
CEO, Boxer Capital
Partner at ARCH Venture Partners
CEO, Endeavor Biomedicines
Deputy Director, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center Professor of Medicine and Chief, Division of Regenerative Medicine
President Emeritus, Rady Children’s Hospital
Principal, Bernstein Private Wealth Management
Partner, LYZZ Capital Advisors
Chairman, Burnham Foundation
CEO, Curebound
Professor and Dean, Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science
Co - Founder of AltheaDX and ALMA Life Sciences, LLC
President & CEO, CONAM
Co-Chief Investment Officer and Regional Market Director of San Diego - Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.
President and CEO, Westcore
CEO, Lofta Inc.
Chief Executive Officer
Chief Science Advisor
Chief Strategy and Implementation Officer
Senior Director of Research
Communications + Creative Director
Executive Producer, Concert for Cures
Strategic Philanthropy Officer
Community Engagement Director
Padres Pedal the Cause Event Director
Chief Development Officer
Padres Pedal the Cause Senior Manager
Padres Pedal the Cause Senior Manager
Research & Operations Associate
Marketing & Communications Manager
Event Operations Coordinator
Community Engagement Coordinator
To join a team that participated in a previous Padres Pedal the Cause event or that has already been created for 2023, click ‘JOIN A TEAM’, and enter your team’s name.