SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Life Science Cares San Diego, a nonprofit organization activating the financial and human capital of the life sciences industry and partnering with local nonprofits to disrupt the cycle of poverty and inequity throughout its communities, and Kura Oncology are continuing their partnership to support the San Diego community. Kura Oncology is contributing $100,000 through Life Science Cares’ Basic Needs portfolio to support local nonprofit, Mama’s Kitchen, with meeting the needs of individuals coping with food insecurity, as well as the facilitation of Life Science Cares’ volunteer engagement program, aiming to provide 7,000 pounds of food to Feeding San Diego.
“In the three years that we’ve been partnering with Kura Oncology, their generosity has allowed us to expand our impact through our Access to Education grant portfolio, exposing thousands of young people to STEM-based careers and connecting them with mentors in the life science industry,” said Leane Marchese, Executive Director of Life Science Cares San Diego. “This new gift will power our Food is Medicine initiative and allow San Diego residents facing malnutrition to receive the healthy, nutritious food they need.”
Mama’s Kitchen, whose services improve the health and well-being of individuals and families vulnerable to malnutrition due to critical illness, has seen a 120% increase in the number of individuals who have been referred to the organization’s Medically Tailored Meals program. The number of volunteers needed to deliver the meals has not kept up with demand. Kura Oncology’s donation has funded the purchase of two electric vehicles that staff can use to deliver meals when there are not enough volunteers.
“Kura Oncology is grateful for our partnership with Life Science Cares, which has enabled us to make a meaningful impact on our local communities in focus areas that resonate with our employees,” said Troy Wilson, Ph.D., J.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Kura Oncology. “For our recent contribution, the Life Science Cares team identified an urgent need with Mama’s Kitchen – a solution to help meet the demand for home-delivered meals to critically ill patients. We are proud to make to make a significant donation and fulfill an immediate need for an organization that is important to the San Diego community.”
“We are incredibly grateful for the support from Life Science Cares and Kura Oncology,” said Eva Matthews, MPH, Chief Executive Officer of Mama's Kitchen. “This donation allows us to meet the needs of our expanding client base, ensuring that more individuals receive the vital nutrition they need to improve their health. The vehicles will be instrumental in reliably serving our community.”
In addition to the support for Mama’s Kitchen, Kura Oncology’s grant will also support the facilitation of Life Science Cares’ volunteer engagement program with the goal of providing 7,000 pounds of food to Feeding San Diego to help students and families who are experiencing food insecurity in home and in school.
About Life Science Cares
Life Science Cares (LSC) activates the financial and human capital of the life sciences industry and partners with nonprofits to disrupt the cycle of poverty and inequality in our communities. Now operating in five US life science hubs (Boston, Philadelphia, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area and New York), LSC has invested $16 million and tens of thousands of volunteer hours in community organizations providing access to basic needs, access to education or access to opportunity. Life Science Cares Switzerland, the first international LSC effort, launched in April 2024. Learn more at https://lifesciencecares.org/.
About Kura Oncology
Kura Oncology is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to realizing the promise of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer. The Company’s pipeline consists of small molecule drug candidates that target cancer signaling pathways. Ziftomenib, a once-daily, oral drug candidate targeting the menin-KMT2A protein-protein interaction, has received Breakthrough Therapy Designation for the treatment of relapsed/refractory (R/R) NPM1-mutant acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Kura has completed enrollment in a Phase 2 registration-directed trial of ziftomenib in NPM1-mutant R/R AML (KOMET-001). The Company is also conducting a series of clinical trials to evaluate ziftomenib in combination with current standards of care in NPM1-mutant and KMT2A-rearranged newly diagnosed and R/R AML. Tipifarnib, a potent and selective farnesyl transferase inhibitor (FTI), is currently in a Phase 1/2 trial in combination with alpelisib for patients with PIK3CA-dependent HNSCC (KURRENT-HN). Kura is also evaluating KO-2806, a next-generation FTI, in a Phase 1 dose-escalation trial as a monotherapy and in combination with targeted therapies (FIT-001). For additional information, please visit Kura’s website at https://kuraoncology.com/ and follow us on X and LinkedIn.
About Mama’s Kitchen
Mama’s Kitchen was established in 1990 by a San Diego caregiver who enlisted volunteers to prepare and deliver free meals to neighbors who were sick with HIV/AIDS and unable to cook for themselves. The organization realized that a reliable home-delivered meal service was needed to ensure that these individuals would continue to receive nutritious, life-sustaining food. Since then, the organization has expanded its Medically Tailored Meal Service program to other at-risk populations including those living with cancer (2006), individuals with heart failure and diabetes (2018), and individuals with chronic kidney disease (2020). Beyond medically tailored meals, clients also receive nutritional counseling from registered dietitians. In May 2024, the organization delivered its 12 millionth meal. Recently, Mama’s Kitchen became the first organization on the west coast, and second in the nation, to receive accreditation as a medically tailored meal provider from the Food Is Medicine Coalition.
For 33 years, Mama’s Kitchen has never turned away a client who qualified for its services. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization responded to an overall 50 percent increase in demand. Mama’s Kitchen continues to provide emergency response efforts, nutrition education services, and more than 880,000 home-delivered medically tailored meals to more than 2,800 individuals and families in San Diego County annually. Mama’s Kitchen is San Diego’s largest non-profit provider of delivered meals and the only provider of scratch-made medically tailored nutrition. Learn more and make a donation at www.mamaskitchen.org. Connect with Mama’s Kitchen on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
