Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE) is a non-profit organization committed to raising awareness and finding a cure for epilepsy. The organization was founded in 1998 by a small group of parents of children who suffered from epilepsy who were unwilling to take a passive role in protecting their children from seizures and negative side effects of existing epilepsy medications and treatments. The CURE founders joined together to “spearhead the search for a cure”, and have helped create a dramatic shift in the way epilepsy is researched and understood. Since the organization’s founding, it has grown into a worldwide movement and raised more than $43 million to fund research initiatives that are helping to develop a cure.
CURE has several programs that are helping the scientific and medical community better understand the underlying causes of epilepsy. The Epilepsy Genetics Initiative (EGI) focuses on collecting data that will help develop a personalized approach to epilepsy. CURE also leads research initiatives for different types of epilepsy including Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) and Infantile Spasms (IS). The organization works with an internal scientific team of epilepsy researchers, a Scientific Advisory Council and a Lay Review Council. All three bodies help review grant applications and distribute funding for new and expanded epilepsy research being conducted all over the world.
Each year, CURE presents grant awards to promising research working towards a breakthrough in understanding and finding a cure for different types of epilepsy. These awards are in the form of two year research grants of up to $250,000, and have the potential to make a significant impact on the lives of individuals living with epilepsy.
The 2016 CURE Research Award Recipients represent scientific researchers working on breakthrough discoveries in epilepsy all around the globe. Grant recipients include researchers from University of Colorado, Boulder, Boston Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Melbourne, the University of British Columbia and others. CURE also gives Innovator Awards in the form of 1 year grants of up to $50,000 to highly innovative concepts relevant to epilepsy. 2016 Innovator Award recipients represented researchers from Italy, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
For more information on CURE and the CURE Research Awards, visit the CURE website.
Robert Roche 