Taste for a Cure
About Taste for a Cure
Thank you for celebrating with us!
Please join us on May 1, 2026 for a very special evening honoring George Cheeks, Chair of TV Media at Paramount, where he will be accepting the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation Gil Nickel Humanitarian Award. The program will be hosted by Ryan Seacrest, with a special musical performance by Carrie Underwood.
Taste for a Cure unites the entertainment and epicurean communities and consistently ranks among the top ten culinary events in Southern California. Every year, we look forward to sharing this special evening, all while raising valuable funds for leading-edge cancer research at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
For information about purchasing tickets, tables or sponsorship for Taste for a Cure 2026, please contact Jacqui Farina at 310-989-4399 or [email protected]
Taste for a Cure Co-Chairs
Ravi Ahuja
Chairman and CEO
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Joe Cohen
Head of Television
Creative Artists Agency
E. Brian Dobbins
Talent Manager / Producer
Artist First
Jon Holman
President
The Holman Group
Jake Kasdan
Producer, Director, Writer, Filmmaker
James Myerson
Breakthru Beverage
Tendo Nagenda
Producer
Film Executive
Gary Newman
Executive Partner
Attention Capital
Erik Nickel
Partner
Far Niente Family of Wines
Keri Shahidi
Producer
7th Sun Productions
Sandra Stern
Vice Chairman
Lionsgate Television Group
Dana Walden
President and Chief Creative Officer
The Walt Disney Company
Arthur Wayne
VP, Global Brand Marketing & Communication
Brooks Brothers
2026 Event Sponsors
PREMIER SPONSORS
UCLA Health
David Geffen School of Medicine
Far Niente Family of Wines
FOX
Herbert and Bui Simon Foundation
Jake Kasdan & Inara George
James Myerson / The Myerson Family
Beth Nickel
Erik Nickel & Michael Loftis
Paramount, a Skydance Corporation
Dana & Matt Walden
Mike & Wendy Wiley
Robert Zukin
BENEFACTOR SPONSORS
The Berlanti Foundation
Hailey Bieber, Michael D. Ratner & Lauren Ratner, and rhode futures foundation
The Capitol Group / Alan Berro / Irfan Furniturewala
Chami Family Foundation
Disney
Randy & Kathy Katz / The Katz Family Foundation
Sony Pictures Entertainment / Ravi Ahuja & Amrita Sen
Sandra Stern / Lionsgate
Jay Sures / David Kramer / United Talent Agency
PATRON SPONSORS
Creative Artists Agency
Ami & Joe Cohen
Ali Jassim Family
Jeffrey & Marilyn Katzenberg
Sloss Eckhouse Dasti Haynes LLP / Cinetic Media
UCLA Division of Hematology/Oncology
UCLA Department of Surgical Oncology
Warner Bros. Discovery
FRIEND SPONSORS
AMAZON / MGM
Richard Appel / Family Guy
Brooks Brothers / Arthur Wayne
Lee Daniels
Brian Dobbins & Chandra Arend
Jill & Mark Eshman
Daniel Fogelman
Eileen Coskey Fracchia & Don Fracchia
Jim Freedman & Karine Joret
Gersh
Grace Ford Salvatori Foundation and Wanda Cannon
Alan Guerrero
Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs & Fox, LLP
Independent Artists Group
Jerry Bruckheimer Films & Jerry Bruckheimer Television
Michael & Jane Jonsson
Seth MacFarlane
June Murdoch
Tendo Nagenda & Chelina Odbert
Gary & Jeanne Newman
NETFLIX
Peter Rice
ROKU
Lisa & Mark Sapiro
Linda Miller Savitt & Bob Savitt
William Tanner & Terre Steinbeck
Translational Research In Oncology-US (TRIO)
UCLA Department of Head & Neck Surgery
UCLA Department of Medicine
UCLA Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and UCLA Division of Gynecologic Oncology
UCLA Department of Radiation Oncology
Jordan & Sandra Walder
WME
Manizheh Yomtoubian / Persians 4 a Cure
Ziffren Britterman LLP
PARTNERS
Acqua Panna & S. Pellegrino
Beverly Wilshire Hotel
Breakthru Beverage
Brooks Brothers
Delta
Disneyland
FOX Commissary
Flowers in Beverly Hills
Hinoki & the Bird
Kali
LA Dodgers / Dave Roberts
Lawry's
Mei Lin
OTUS
Petit Trois
The Lobster
MEDIA PARTNER
The Hollywood Reporter
Board of Directors
The UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation is guided by a Board of Directors representing community and business leaders united in the commitment to end cancer through research. View the Board of Directors roster
Be a Sponsor of Taste for a Cure
For information about sponsorship for Taste for a Cure 2023, please contact Jacqui Farina via email or at 310-989-4399.