Herpes Cure Advocacy
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
INFORMED ADVOCACY RELATING TO THE CURE, TREATMENT AND PREVENTION FOR HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS TYPES 1 + 2 INFECTIONS.
- Income
- $105,751
- Spending
- $45,841
- Reserves
- 19.7 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 100%
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
We do not score finances when yearly spending is very small or the return has too little detail. The ratios stop meaning much at that size.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
This organization files the short tax form, which does not ask about boards, policies or audits. That is normal for a small charity and is not a mark against it.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (1)
- $17,150 spent. HERPES CURE ADVOCACY (HCA), FOUNDED IN MARCH 2022, IS A GRASS ROOTS, VOLUNTEER-DRIVEN NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO TACKLING ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST PREVALENT BUT UNDER-ADDRESSED INFECTIONS CAUSED BY HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS TYPES 1 AND 2 (HSV-1 & HSV-2). ESTABLISHED AS A 501(C)(3), THE ORGANIZATION ENVISIONS A FUTURE FREE FROM THE BURDEN OF HERPES, WHERE INFECTION, TRANSMISSION, STIGMA AND RELATED COMPLICATIONS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED OR ELIMINATED ALTOGETHER. HCA'S MISSION IS TO SUPPORT THE CURE, TREATMENT, DIAGNOSIS, AND PREVENTION OF HERPES INFECTIONS. THE ORGANIZATION ACCOMPLISHES THIS THROUGH ACCELERATING RESEARCH, DRUG AND TEST DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATION, POLICY, AND GRASSROOTS ADVOCACY. HERPES CURE ADVOCACY HAS SUCCESSFULLY ELEVATED HERPES ONTO THE U.S. PUBLIC AND PERSONAL HEALTH CARE AGENDA BY HELPING DEVELOP AND PROMOTE A NATIONAL STRATEGY AND STRATEGIC PLAN FOR CURE, TREATMENT, AND PREVENTION OF HERPES. HCA'S ADVOCACY EFFORTS CATALYZED A JOINT CDC/NIH HERPES RESEARCH WORKSHOP IN 2022 AND THE CDC ISSUING REQUESTS FOR APPLICATIONS (RFAS) FOR IMPROVED HSV TESTING. IN 2023, THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH) CONVENED A MULTI-COUNCIL WORKING GROUP ON HERPES, MARKING A NEW LEVEL OF INSTITUTIONAL COORDINATION. NIH RELEASED ITS STRATEGIC PLAN FOR HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS (HSV) RESEARCH ON SEPTEMBER 19, 2023. THE PLAN, TITLED THE 2023-2028 NIH STRATEGIC PLAN FOR HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS RESEARCH, IS LED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES (NIAID). ALONGSIDE THESE SUCCESSES, HCA HAS BUILT A GLOBAL GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT, MOBILIZED PATIENT, SCIENTIST AND POLICY MAKER VOICES, AND HELPED REDUCE STIGMA THROUGH EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. IN LATE 2024, THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (HHS) PUBLISHED THE FIRST AND GROUNDBREAKING HSV ADDENDUM TO THE SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS (STI) NATIONAL STRATEGIC PLAN. THE ORGANIZATION'S WORK SPANS SEVERAL KEY AREAS. FIRST, HCA IS COMMITTED TO ADVANCING RESEARCH AND ACCELERATING THE DEVELOPMENT OF POTENTIAL CURES, PREVENTIVE MEASURES INCLUDING VACCINES, AND IMPROVED TESTING AND THERAPEUTICS. SINCE 2022 HCA HAS PUBLISHED TWO HERPES CURE PIPELINE RELEASES AND REPORTED ON PROMISING PRE-CLINICAL RESEARCH AND CLINICAL TRIALS FOR NEW THERAPIES TO TREAT HSV. BECAUSE THERE IS NO CURRENT CURE FOR HERPES AND EXISTING TREATMENTS ONLY PARTIALLY MANAGE SYMPTOMS AND REDUCE TRANSMISSION RISK, HCA PRIORITIZES EFFORTS THAT HELP PROMISING THERAPIES MOVE FROM THE LABORATORY INTO CLINICAL TRIALS. HCA ADVOCATES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF BETTER DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS. CURRENT TESTING TECHNOLOGIES CAN BE INACCURATE AND ARE UNDER RESEARCHED, WITH LIMITED DATA EXAMINING SCREENING BENEFITS, MAKING IT DIFFICULT FOR INDIVIDUALS TO KNOW THEIR INFECTION STATUS AND PREVENT TRANSMISSION. BY PUSHING FOR MORE RELIABLE AND ACCESSIBLE DIAGNOSTIC SOLUTIONS, HCA SEEKS TO CLOSE ONE OF THE BIGGEST GAPS IN THE PUBLIC AND PERSONAL HEALTH RESPONSE TO HERPES. POLICY AND ADVOCACY ARE ALSO CENTRAL PILLARS OF HCA'S MISSION. THE ORGANIZATION ENGAGES WITH LAWMAKERS, PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS, RESEARCHERS AND REGULATORY AGENCIES TO ELEVATE HERPES ON THE PUBLIC AND PERSONAL HEALTH AGENDA, ADDRESSES FUNDING PRIORITIES, AND PROMOTES COORDINATED NATIONAL STRATEGIES. THESE ADVOCACY EFFORTS ARE REINFORCED BY AN EQUALLY IMPORTANT FOCUS ON EDUCATION AND IMPROVING CLINICAL CARE. TO THIS END, HCA OPERATES MONTHLY EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR PATIENTS AND PROFESSIONALS. IN 2024 AND 2025, HCA PARTNERED WITH THE HIV VACCINE TRIALS NETWORK (HVTN) ORGANIZATION TO LEAD A SERIES OF SCIENTIFIC TALKS ON HSV FOR A NATIONAL AUDIENCE. THE IMPORTANCE OF HCA'S WORK CANNOT BE OVERSTATED. HERPES IS HIGHLY PREVALENT WORLDWIDE, YET ITS BURDEN IS OFTEN UNDERESTIMATED BECAUSE MANY INFECTIONS ARE ASYMPTOMATIC OR MISDIAGNOSED. BEYOND PAINFUL OUTBREAKS, HERPES CAN LEAD TO SEVERE COMPLICATIONS SUCH AS NEONATAL HERPES, ENCEPHALITIS, OR INCREASED VULNERABILITY TO OTHER IMPORTANT HEALTH CONDITIONS. RESEARCH HAS ALSO IDENTIFIED POTENTIAL ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN HSV AND LONG-TERM NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS SUCH AS ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. ON TOP OF THE PHYSICAL TOLL, THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL BURDEN OF HERPES IS IMMENSE. THE INFECTION IS OFTEN ACCOMPANIED BY STIGMA, SHAME, AND SOCIAL ISOLATION, WHICH CAN DEEPLY IMPACT MENTAL AND SEXUAL HEALTH. BY ADDRESSING BOTH THE BIOMEDICAL AND SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF HERPES, HCA IS WORKING TOWARD A FUTURE THAT PRIORITIZES HOLISTIC WELL-BEING FOR THOSE AFFECTED AND ENSURES THAT THE MILLIONS AFFECTED BY HERPES HAVE A VOICE, A COMMUNITY, AND A PATH FORWARD. THE CURRENT HERPES CURE ADVOCACY BOARD OF DIRECTORS IS COMPOSED OF EXPERTS AND ADVOCATES SPANNING MEDICINE, PUBLIC HEALTH, VIROLOGY, BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES, LAW, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT, AND PATIENT ADVOCACY. DR. JEFFREY KLAUSNER SERVES AS PRESIDENT AND BRINGS DEEP EXPERIENCE IN STI EPIDEMIOLOGY AND APPLIED PUBLIC HEALTH. DR. GARY RICHWALD IS VICE PRESIDENT AND A COMMUNICABLE DISEASE AND HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH EXPERT AND HAS SERVED AS DIRECTOR OF ONE OF THE LARGEST STI PROGRAMS IN THE USA. DR. LAO-TZU ALLAN-BLITZ ACTS AS SECRETARY, CONTRIBUTING EXPERTISE IN INFECTIOUS DISEASE DIAGNOSTICS AND GLOBAL HEALTH EQUITY. MS. NICOLE HANLEY IS TREASURER AND COMBINES PSYCHIATRIC AND FAMILY NURSE PRACTITIONER ROLES WITH PARTICULAR INTEREST IN THE MENTAL HEALTH AND COMMUNITY DIMENSIONS OF HSV. THE "AT LARGE" BOARD MEMBERS INCLUDE DR. LUIS SCHANG, MOLECULAR VIROLOGIST FOCUSED ON ANTIVIRAL DISCOVERY; MS. KARLAYNA KERN, PATIENT ADVOCATE WHO HANDLES COMMUNICATIONS AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT; DR. KENNETH LAWRENCE, INFECTIOUS DISEASE PHARMACOLOGY/MEDICAL AFFAIRS LEADER; MS. AMY FINK, ATTORNEY, MS. DEB LEVINE, NONPROFIT FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, AND MS. REINA SAMARO, SAFETY DIRECTOR AND HERPES PATIENT ADVOCATE.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since October 2022.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
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