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Sidney and Caroline Kimmel have been selected by the AACI Board of Directors to receive the 2021 AACI Champion for Cures Award, which recognizes transformational philanthropy that advances our shared vision of a future without cancer.

Over the past 25 years, Sidney and Caroline Kimmel have changed the course of cancer research and care in Philadelphia and across the nation. Since 1994, the Kimmels have given nearly $600 million for cancer research. This included a gift of $10 million to Thomas Jefferson University to name its cancer center, igniting a five-fold growth in the number of its investigators and establishing a premier program in translating breakthroughs and treatments. Because of the Kimmels, Jefferson has been a Philadelphia-area leader in oncology research, patient treatment, and education services.

Sidney Kimmel has remained actively engaged in the strategic vision and growth of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (SKCC). He helped recruit luminary talent to the faculty and lent his wisdom to the center's NCI-designation renewal in 2018. Today, SKCC is home to over 500 clinical employees. Along with his wife, Caroline, he helped establish SKCC's first formal advisory council, comprised of 17 prominent leaders in business, health care, law, innovation, media, and philanthropy. Caroline Kimmel serves as a member of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center Advisory Council.

The Kimmels' giving has inspired others by providing $12 million in matching funds to create eight endowed professorships and 31 endowed scholarships. This includes giving the $70 million anchor gift for the Caroline Kimmel Biomedical Research Building, which will position SKCC's research enterprise for decades to come.

The Champion for Cures Award was established as an annual award in 2018 to recognize philanthropic support of AACI cancer centers. Karen Knudsen, MBA, PhD, former SKCC director, AACI past president, and current CEO of the American Cancer Society, will virtually present the award to the Kimmels during the 2021 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting in October.