Night of Discovery

Save the date for our upcoming benefit, Night of Discovery, featuring an exclusive, acoustic performance by Grammy winner, Rick Springfield.

 

Sponsorship opportunities are now available! Tickets & tables on sale March 20.

 

25th Anniversary Gala

We look forward to celebrating our 25th anniversary with you on Saturday, May 6 at The Sheraton Grand Chicago. Stay tuned for more information and updates on the event.

Unable to attend but still want to help find a cure for epilepsy? Donate here to help us fund vitally needed epilepsy research.

Featured entertainment for the evening will be Fitz and the Tantrums.

 

Unite to CURE Epilepsy 2022

Our Unite to CURE Epilepsy virtual event is back! Join us as we celebrate advances in epilepsy research, inspiring stories from the community, and so much more. Our 3rd annual Unite to CURE Epilepsy event will be hosted by Tanja Babich, Emmy Award-winning anchor at ABC 7 Chicago, and premiere on September 29th at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT. We look forward to connecting with everyone within the epilepsy community across the country.

If you aren’t able to join us, you can still donate here to help us fund even more vitally needed epilepsy research.

CURE Epilepsy’s 2022 Annual Benefit

On June 1, 2022, we held our Annual Chicago Benefit. It was an evening of celebrating the progress we have made in advancing science to find a cure and sharing powerful stories from the community. Thank you to all the individuals, families, clinicians, researchers, donors, and sponsors from across the epilepsy community who joined us for the evening. With all of your generosity and support, you helped us raise over $1.9 million for innovative research that will help us find a cure for this terrible condition. With your continued support, we know we will reach our goal: a world without epilepsy.

If you weren’t able to join us, you can still donate here to help us fund even more vitally needed epilepsy research.

Thank you to our musical performers, Barenaked Ladies, for joining us for the evening and sharing their talents with us.

 

Some photos of the evening are below. You can see all photos from the benefit here (use the case-sensitive password CURE2022).

 

 

Unite to CURE Epilepsy 2021

On September 17th, 2021, we held our second annual virtual event, Unite to CURE Epilepsy. It was an evening of engaging entertainment, moving stories from the community, and promising research updates. We witnessed the global epilepsy community come together through tenacity, discovery, and hope to help achieve our vision: a world without epilepsy.

If you weren’t able to join us, you can still donate here to help us fund even more vitally needed epilepsy research. You can also watch the event below to see why your donations are so critical to our mission.


Watch the Event

Thank you to all the individuals, families, clinicians, donors, and sponsors from across the epilepsy community who joined from around the world to Unite to CURE Epilepsy. With all of your generosity and support, you helped us raise nearly $1.8 million for innovative research that will help us find a cure for this terrible condition. With your continued support, we know we will reach our goal.

Thank you to the world-class entertainers for their inspirational performances, the informative updates from leading scientists who gave us a look into the world of epilepsy research, and the members of the epilepsy community for sharing their inspirational stories.

Featuring

 

Mike Barnicle, event host, award-winning journalist and contributor to MSNBC’s Morning Joe, whose daughter, Julia, has epilepsy. 

Rick Bayless, 8-time James Beard Award-winning Chef

The legendary Nils Lofgren looks down toward his guitar while performing.

Nils Lofgren, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, solo performer,  member of the E Street Band, member of Neil Young and Crazy Horse..

Miguel Cervantes

Miguel Cervantes,
Film and TV actor. Star of Hamilton on Broadway.

 

Plus Miguel’s Broadway friends, Tamar Greene,  Mandy Gonzales, James Snyder, Jackson Cervantes, and Vadim Feichtner, for vocal arrangements, and Hudson Pollock, for sound editing. 

And members of the Misericordia Heartzingers, Lauren Axelrod, Charlie Carpenter, and Denise Witt. With Dick Bangham for editing and post-production, Jamison Weddles for audio recording and mixing, Bob and Madge Erlenbaugh, musical directors for Heartzingers, Rob Carpenter for filming the Heartzingers. And a special thanks to Amy Lofgren.  

Epilepsy Research Needs You

Epilepsy research is more important than ever, and funding this research is critically needed in order to make strides in developing treatments. It is vital that we do all we can to ensure continued progress towards our shared vision: a world without epilepsy.

CURE Epilepsy Board of Directors

Susan Axelrod
CURE Epilepsy Founder
Chicago, Illinois

Stacey Pigott
Board Chair
Wilmette, Illinois

Kelly Cervantes
Chair-Elect
Maplewood, New Jersey

Michael Axelrod
Secretary
Phoenix, Arizona

Kathy McKenna
Treasurer
Arlington Heights, Illinois

Gary Collins
President, Epilepsy Canada
Ex Officio
Toronto, Canada

Kimberly Borden
Clarendon Hills, Illinois

Lisa Cotton
Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan

Blake Cunneen
La Grange, Illinois

Marilynn Kelly Gardner
Chicago, Illinois

Carrie Garman
Downers Grove, Illinois

Brian Gorczynski
Morristown, New Jersey

David Reifman
Chicago, Illinois

Matt Schneider
Chevy Chase, Maryland

Beth Lewin Dean
Chief Executive Officer
Ex Officio
Chicago, Illinois

 

Scientific Advisory Council

Angélique Bordey, PhD
Yale University School of Medicine

James Cloyd, PharmD
University of Minnesota, College of Pharmacy

Kelly Knupp, MD
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Daniel Lowenstein, MD
University of California, San Francisco

Eric Marsh, MD, PhD
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

H. Steve White, PhD
University of Washington

Vicky Whittemore, PhD
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Program Director

 

 

Unite to CURE Epilepsy


Watch the Event

On September 24, 2020, we held our first-ever virtual event, Unite to CURE Epilepsy. Throughout the evening, we heard inspirational stories, learned about encouraging new research, and saw entertaining performances from legendary musical names. Moreover, we witnessed the global epilepsy community brought together by tenacity, discovery, and hope to help achieve our vision: a world without epilepsy.

Thank you to all the individuals, families, clinicians, donors, and sponsors from across the epilepsy community who joined from near and far to Unite to CURE Epilepsy. Your amazing support helped us raise $ 1.83 million for innovative research that will help us find a cure.

Thank you to the world-class entertainers for their inspirational performances, the informative updates from leading scientists who gave us a look into the world of epilepsy research, and to the members of the epilepsy community for sharing their moving stories.

Featuring

Mike Barnicle, event host, award-winning journalist and contributor to MSNBC’s Morning Joe, whose daughter, Julia, has epilepsy. 

Eric Church, country music star and four-time Grammy-award nominee. 

The legendary Nils Lofgren looks down toward his guitar while performing.

Nils Lofgren, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, member of the E Street Band, member of Neil Young and Crazy Horse.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, practicing neurosurgeon and Emmy-Award winning CNN Chief Medical Correspondent.

Miguel Cervantes

Miguel Cervantes,
Broadway, Stage, and Screen Actor.

 

Plus Miguel’s Broadway friends, Colin Donell, Montego Glover, Alan Green, Tamar Greene, Leslie Kritzer, Patti Murin, Eric Petersen, James Snyder, and Ben Thompson.

Epilepsy Research Needs You

During this pandemic, epilepsy research is more vulnerable than ever, with investigators experiencing delays due to mandatory time away from the lab and related additional costs for PPE and other materials. It is vital that we do all we can to ensure continued progress towards our shared vision: a world without epilepsy.

CURE Board of Directors

Susan Axelrod
CURE Founder
Chicago, Illinois

Stacey Pigott
Board Chair
Wilmette, Illinois

Ann Benschoter
Immediate Past Board Chair
Waverly, Iowa

Kelly Cervantes
Secretary
Maplewood, New Jersey

Kathy McKenna
Treasurer
Arlington Heights, Illinois

Michael Axelrod
Elmhurst, Illinois

Lisa Cotton
Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan

Blake Cunneen
La Grange, Illinois

Marilynn Kelly Gardner
Chicago, Illinois

Carrie Garman
Downers Grove, Illinois

Celia Huber
Palo Alto, California

David Reifman
Chicago, Illinois

Beth Lewin Dean
Chief Executive Officer
Ex Officio
Chicago, Illinois

 

Scientific Advisory Council

 

James Cloyd, PharmD
University of Minnesota, College of Pharmacy

Kelly Knupp, MD
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Daniel Lowenstein, MD
University of California, San Francisco

Eric Marsh, MD, PhD
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Manisha Patel, PhD
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Vicky Whittemore, PhD
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Program Director

 

 

CURE 2019 Annual Chicago Benefit

Thank you to the CURE community of families, researchers, donors, and sponsors who came out to Navy Pier and raised an incredible $2 million and counting for innovative research for a cure! We are honored to be surrounded by such dedicated, caring, and unrelenting people who remain hopeful that we will create a world without epilepsy.

If you weren’t able to join us, but would like to support CURE’s mission to find a cure for epilepsy, by promoting and funding patient-focused research, you can donate now. Your support creates amazing progress in epilepsy research and will continue to drive science forward until our mission to find a cure for epilepsy is accomplished.

View photo gallery (password: CURE2019).

Thank you to our wonderful performers for inspiring us.

Nils Lofgren

Nils Lofgren is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Member of the E Street Band and Neil Young and Crazy Horse.

Miguel Cervantes

Miguel Cervantes is a stage and screen actor currently performing as Alexander Hamilton in the Chicago production of Hamilton.

Musicality

Musicality is a Chicago-based youth vocal group, known for gripping sounds and thrilling performances.

Thank you to our speakers for sharing stories of loss and hope.

Kelly and Miguel Cervantes at the 2019 CURE Annual Benefit

Kelly and Miguel Cervantes

Michael Platt and David Axelrod

Michael Platt and David Axelrod

Stacey Pigott, CURE Board Chair

Libby and Victor Boyce

Susan Axelrod, CURE Founder

Thank you to our Vice Chairs, Host Committee Members, and Board Members for supporting this incredible evening.

Vice Chairs

Mike Axelrod
GPG Strategies

Debra A. Cafaro
Ventas, Inc.

Ken Griffin
Citadel

Randy Mehrberg
Jenner & Block

Sharon O’Keefe
The University of Chicago Medicine

Dianne Raso
Ann G. and James B. Ritchey Foundation

Michael J. Sacks
GCM Grosvenor

Host Committee

Liz and Mike Axelrod

Susan and David Axelrod

Patrice Bugelas-Brandt and Bill Brandt

Debra A. Cafaro and Terrance K. Livingston

Wendy Coleman and Jim Terman

Lisa and Michael Cotton

Shery and David Cotton

Karen and Larry Grisolano

Rick Jasculca

Carol Jones and Tom Hynes

Bernadette Keller and William M. Daley

Sharon O’Keefe and Hal Moore

Linda and Richard Price

Penny Pritzker and Bryan Traubert

Cari and Michael J. Sacks

Michele Schara and Randy Mehrberg

Marla and Eric Sedler

Margaret and Joe Tilson

CURE Board of Directors

Susan Axelrod
Founder

Stacey Pigott
Board Chair

Ann Benschoter
Immediate Past Chair

Kelly Cervantes
Secretary

Kathy McKenna
Treasurer

Mike Axelrod

Lisa Cotton

Blake Cunneen

Marilynn Kelly Gardner

Celia Pohani Huber

Beth Lewin Dean
Chief Executive Officer
Ex Officio

Thank you to our in-kind sponsors and volunteers for giving their time and resources to ensure the success of this year’s Annual Chicago Benefit.

In-Kind Sponsors

AKPD Media

Libby and Victor Boyce

Kelly and Miguel Cervantes

Earhole Studios

The Eli’s Cheesecake Company

Fleur De Lis

Friedman Family Foundation

Friedman Properties

Jasculca Terman and Associates, Inc

Kivvit

Musicality

Michael Platt

Amy Spizzo

Amy and Nils Lofgren

Manny’s Cafeteria and Delicatessen

Misericordia Heartzingers Choir

Salesforce

Sidley Austin LLP

Terlato Wines

Walter Payton College Prep Jazz Orchestra

David Yurman

 

Alla Alperovich

Drew Anderson

Mason Banwell

Alyssa Bazzanella

Leon Blair

Daniel Broderick

Jenny Burke

Anthony Capitani

Collin Coelet

Ainslee Dean

Amanda DeKruiff

Bill Delaney

Mary Ellen Delaney

Gabrielle Dougherty

Julie Felipez

Hannah Felipez

Madeline Felipez

Geoffrey Fishwick

Shirley Fishwick

Alexis Flores

Stephanie Greco

Sarah Hastreiter

Volunteers

James Griffith

Ashleigh Henrichs

Kay Henrichs

Daniel Karas

Rosemary Lamont

Linda Lepp

Jeffrey Liguori

Scott Maracek

Amanda Marrazzo

Anthony Marrazzo

Shaina Mayzler

Ronnie McCarron

Jan McCarron

John McCarron

Nicole McLean

Fran Mehalic

Morgan Mehalic

Giorgi Mombach

Ken Moore

Kate Mullen

Anthony O’Boyle

Nancy O’Neill

 

Don O’Neill

Josh Peters

Brittany Pham

Nicholas Quarino

Maureen Rizzi

Harper Robinson

Matt Sackley

Sandy Saltiel

Nadia Sarnecki

Maddie Schaafsma

Stephen Scheffler

Kaiser Shah

Jeanne Simonetta

Jamie Smith

Linda Smith

Jacob Stanley

Stephen Todd

Scott Tsai

Robb Valentyn

Jenny Whitlock

William Wirtz

 

Broadway Sings for CURE

To the Broadway Sings for CURE sponsors, performers, hosts, and guests, you have our deepest thanks for coming out to support epilepsy research and our fight to find a cure. 

Event Image Gallery

Event Details

Cocktail Reception: 6:00 PM
Program: 7:30 PM

Join us for Broadway Sings for CURE, an evening of dazzling performances by Broadway stars. This event will be hosted by Miguel Cervantes, star of Chicago’s HAMILTON. Miguel understands all too well how devastating epilepsy can be, as his daughter, Adelaide, was diagnosed with a severe form of epilepsy called infantile spasms at 7 months old. She continues to battle this condition every day.

An incredible line-up of Broadway stars will perform live, putting epilepsy center stage to raise funds for critically needed research. Broadway Sings for CURE features:

Joshua Henry
Carousel; Shuffle Along; Violet; Porgy and Bess; American Idiot; The Scottsboro Boys; In The Heights

Tamika Lawrence
Gettin’ the Band Back Together; Come From Away; Beautiful; If/Then; Matilda The Musical; The Book of Mormon

Lisa O’Hare
New Amsterdam (Television); A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Ryann Redmond
Frozen; Escape To Margaritaville; If/Then; Bring It On: The Musical

James Snyder
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two; If/Then; Cry-Baby

Ben Thompson
Waitress; Matilda The Musical; Holler If Ya Hear Me; American Idiot

Gregory Treco
Hamilton; Taboo

Tickets to this exclusive showcase are extremely limited, so don’t throw away your shot. Secure tickets or sponsorships now. If you have any questions, please reach out to Meghan Jorgensen at Events@CUREepilepsy.org.

2018 Boston Benefit for the Cure

Epilepsy can be a debilitating disease, affecting more than 65 million people worldwide. One in 26 Americans will develop the disease in their lifetime. Funding scientists worldwide to collaborate and innovate in pursuit of a cure is our mission.

The Boston CURE community reunited on April 3 for a powerful and inspiring Boston Benefit for the CURE in support of epilepsy research. The Benefit was hosted by Anne Finucane and Mike Barnicle, and Susan and David Axelrod. Governor Charlie Baker and Mayor Martin J. Walsh participated in the evening events.

Thanks to all of our Benefit hosts, dinner chairs, generous sponsors, volunteers, donors and guests, nearly $1.1 million was raised to support CURE’s research grants program, new scientific opportunities and future breakthroughs.

Dinner Chairs:
Jack and Eileen Connors
Karen and Ken Kaplan
Brian Moynihan and Sue Berry