NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 19, 2004--When the Medical Advisory Board of the Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research convenes in March, they will choose fifteen new Kimmel Scholars bringing the total number funded to date to 100 since the program's inception in 1997. Each scholar, who will receive a $200,000 grant over a two year period, must perform his or her research in an American not-for-profit institution and submit an application detailing the specific project and how it is expected to impact an area of cancer research.
The Kimmel Scholar Awards are designed to further the careers of some of the youngest and brightest minds doing cancer research today. Mr. Kimmel's thinking was to provide research grants to applicants showing the greatest promise and innovation but whose careers have not been sufficiently advanced to provide them the critical mass of research history that typically justifies receiving grants from the National Cancer Institute and other funding sources.
Selections are made by a Medical Advisory Board comprised of 13 of the nation's most renowned cancer researchers. This year the Board has received over 150 applications for the awards; five will be chosen to receive grants for translational research which are studies that integrate clinical and laboratory investigations in either humans or animals, and the remaining grants will be for basic research.
The Sidney Kimmel Foundation has also funded four cancer centers at San Diego, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University and Johns Hopkins University. The gift to Johns Hopkins, $150 million to establish the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, is the largest gift ever received by that institution. In fact, Mr. Kimmel is likely the single biggest donor to cancer research in the United States with total commitments exceeding $300 million to date.
Mr. Kimmel's dedication to solving the mysteries of cancer also includes inspiring and funding a 1998 march on Congress to lobby for augmented funding for cancer research which produced very successful results by doubling the grants to the National Cancer Institute.
Last year's grant recipients hailed from nine states and eleven different universities including Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Harvard University, Purdue University, Duke University School of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ohio State University and Thomas Jefferson University, University of California and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Sidney Kimmel is the founder and Chairman of Jones Apparel Group and has awarded more than $420 million to various philanthropic causes through the Sidney Kimmel Foundation, primarily in the areas of cancer research, the performing arts and Jewish continuity.
In the area of arts and culture, The Kimmel Foundation has supported the new Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, designed by Rafael Vinoly and home of the world-class Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum among others. Mr. Kimmel is recognized repeatedly by Business Week as one of the nation's top most generous philanthropists.
For more information about The Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research contact Risa Hoag at 845-627-3000 or visit www.kimmel.org.
News Media: If you would like to speak with a Kimmel Scholar or Advisory Board Member or would like digital photographs, please contact Risa B. Hoag at 845-627-3000 or at risa@gmgpr.com. The Medical Advisory Board will meet early March in Palm Beach. For further information, contact Risa Hoag.
Contacts
Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research Risa B. Hoag, 845-627-3000
