As Chief Operating Officer of Curebound, Karen Hooper brings more than 25 years of non-profit leadership experience in organizational infrastructure, staff development, strategy, community engagement and strategic alliances for the nonprofit committed to promoting health related missions that focus on services and cures.

Formerly, as Executive Director of a local Diabetes research organization, Hooper led fundraising, mission delivery and operations. Before that, she served as Vice President of Program Development and Engagement of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society where she dedicated her time to creating an impactful nationwide support and education network with the MS community.

Cancer research and the scientists conducting vital studies are facing an uncertain financial future

We sat down with her recently to talk about Curebound, the impacts of recent NIH funding cuts, the mission and what she has learned from working with nonprofits for 25 years.

Tell me about Curebound.

Cancer is a disease that is personal to each of us. 1.9 million new cases of cancer are expected to be diagnosed this year. We all have someone in our lives that has been touched by this disease. Our mission at Curebound is to accelerate cures for cancer in our lifetime. We invest broadly and deeply in innovations that accelerate cures.

Curebound is about our communities coming together to fund innovative cancer research that will save lives. We take calculated, thoughtful risks on innovative, cutting-edge research. We are comfortable taking chances where others may not, in providing seed funding to promising research, dedicated investigators, and innovative processes. We raise and invest strategic funding into collaborative grants that bring the best scientists together in collaboration to accelerate better detection, treatments, and cures for cancer.

To date, Curebound has invested over $43 million in collaborative research grants, awarding 143 grants for all types of childhood and adult cancers.

Most recently we hosted our third Concert for Cures, this time with Elton John taking the stage at Petco Park. Curebound raised $11.5 million with the event, to support adult and childhood cancer research right here in San Diego. It was an incredibly meaningful evening of community, hope and critical fundraising.

(L-R): Anne Marbarger, Curebound COO, and Karen Hooper, Curebound Chief Operating Officer

We will hold our 12th annual Curebound Cancer Challenge (formerly Padres Pedal the Cause) on August 2 at UC San Diego. The Curebound Cancer Challenge will feature three world-class 25 to 75-mile bike routes along San Diego’s Torrey Pines coastline, a family friendly 5K, a new 10K run, 50-minute spin classes, entertainment, family activities and a team village where fundraising teams can gather and celebrate their fundraising efforts. This year, Challenge team signups are inspiring, with 130+ teams stepping forward to fundraise and support the most innovative cancer studies today. I am joining them in fundraising on the Curebound Dream Team. It’s not too late to join us!

The Curebound Cancer Challenge helps us in our goal to invest $100 million dollars to find solutions to better prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer across early-stage cancer studies, with the potential to spread nationally through scientific collaborations. Every dollar raised will help fund pioneering cancer research among top scientists and institutions in the major U.S. biotech hub of San Diego, where we are focused, including UC San Diego, Salk Institute, Sanford-Burnham Prebys, La Jolla Institute of Immunology and Scripps Research.

What do you most want people to know about Curebound and the fight against cancer?

At Curebound, we are committed to one goal: find cures for cancers in our lifetime. We are laser focused on getting research to clinic patients as swiftly as possible.

For anyone who hears they, a friend, or a family member is diagnosed with cancer, please know that the Curebound community is full of dedicated people working hard to find cures. Go to Curebound.org to learn more about our organization and community of cancer patients, survivors, researchers, and supporters. We are here for you.

How do the recent NIH funding cuts impact scientific research and organizations like Curebound?

Cancer research and the scientists conducting vital studies are facing an uncertain financial future. According to analysis in JAMA*, over $1.8 billion in federal agency grants to the NIH were cut in 2025 (NBC News, 2025). It is estimated that nearly 700 grants across 24 NIH institutes were affected, covering research on cancer, aging, diabetes, and more.

With these recent cuts to NIH funding for cancer research, researchers being able to receive funding from other funding sources, like Curebound, is critical. We are committed, at Curebound, to raising the funds that are needed to ensure the significant momentum in cancer research continues. It is so important that we work together to ensure that research progress is properly funded and the incredible scientists we have right here in San Diego, and beyond, have the resources they need to continue fighting this disease. This is our promise.

How can people and businesses help?

Get involved! Cancer does not discriminate. Visit Curebound.org. Learn about the inspiring research projects we are funding. Come to The Curebound Cancer Challenge. Participate. Form a team. Ask your friends and companies to donate. In addition to this event and our Concert for Cures, we also host community gatherings where people can connect and learn more about the impact that the San Diego community is having on curing cancer. Everyone can help.

Give back. Donate your time or financial support to the Curebound research model. If you are a business, get your company and employees involved.

What are some lessons you have learned in working with nonprofits like Curebound and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society?

I have learned that people are the center of everything we do and why we do it. I have learned that community and connection matter. To create healthier communities, we need to be together, learn together, and work together toward a common goal. People coming together to solve a problem can make a difference. I have seen it again and again throughout my life and non-profit career. Anything is possible. It takes vision, a plan to achieve that vision, and the right people with dedication and passion to make it happen.

What are you most excited about when it comes to the future and cancer research?

I feel inspired every day to work alongside an incredible team of staff and volunteers at Curebound. I am excited about so many things in the future in cancer research, but mostly I believe in the San Diego cancer research community and that cures are possible in our lifetime. I believe in them, and I deeply believe that our work is, and will continue to, translate into real life change for the way we all experience cancer. Imagine that for a moment. That future brings me hope.

Left to right, from Curebound: Karen Hooper, Heather Dean-Presnall, Amy Myers, Judith Pohla at the 2025 Curebound Concert for Cures: Elton John

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