Night of Discovery, CURE Epilepsy’s annual Chicago benefit, is an exciting evening of stories and research featuring a cocktail reception, dinner, program, and entertainment. It is a wonderful opportunity for our dedicated community to come together to share in our experiences and raise critical funds for epilepsy research to ensure that no good science goes unfunded.
The event has been a staple of the city’s social calendar for over 25 years, and with our goal of raising $2M annually, it has a substantial impact on the research we are able to fund. Since 1998, the annual benefit, our single largest fundraising effort each year, has raised over $30M for epilepsy research.
Event speakers have included Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, Secretary Hillary Clinton, and renowned journalist Katie Couric, and our entertainers have included James Taylor, Carole King, Paul Simon, Rick Springfield, and more.
Night of Discovery 2026
Founders Award
In 2023, we established the CURE Epilepsy Founders Award honoring someone each year who embodies the tenacious spirit of the parents who came together to begin this organization.
2026 Awardee, Walter J. Koroshetz, MD
CURE Epilepsy is proud to present the 2026 Founders Award to Walter J. Koroshetz, MD, for championing early-career investigators and worked closely with CURE Epilepsy on key initiatives, like the Epilepsy Centers Without Walls, that have driven significant advances in understanding epilepsy.
A board-certified neurologist, Dr. Koroshetz served as Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) from 2015-2026. He joined NINDS in 2007 as Deputy Director and has held leadership roles in a number of National Institutes of Health (NIH) and NINDS programs. In addition to overseeing all NINDS research programs, he co-led projects including the NIH’s BRAIN Initiative, NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research, and the Undiagnosed Diseases Network.
Since his education and training at Georgetown, University of Chicago, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard, Dr. Koroshetz has been a tireless champion of neurological research, overseeing significant advances in epilepsy research at the federal level for over a decade. He has an extremely personal connection to epilepsy, having lost his father and one uncle to Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP).
Throughout his tenure at NINDS, he championed early-career investigators and worked closely with CURE Epilepsy on key initiatives like the Epilepsy Centers Without Walls that have driven significant advances in understanding epilepsy. Dr. Koroshetz has had an inside look at the troubling changes happening in medical research recently and fought to protect the federally funded, peer-reviewed scientific enterprise.
Past Awardees
Barbara Kelly, CURE Epilepsy’s long-time research chair and one of our founders, was the 2023 recipient. In 2024, Jeanne Donalty, pioneer of SUDEP research and founding mother, and Gardiner Lapham, one of the key drivers in the formation of Partners Against Mortality in Epilepsy (PAME), received the award. The 2025 Founders Award went to Illinois Senator Dick Durbin for his unwavering support of scientific research.
Presenting Sponsors
Diamond Sponsors
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
Photos from 2025
Our 27th annual benefit was held September 20, 2025 at the Fairmont Millennium Park in Chicago.
Previous Benefits
Check out these photos from previous years' events.
