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The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation announced the winners on October 20 at a special awards ceremony at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Established by the Kirsh family in honour of their patriarch Gerald, the awards pay tribute to the compassionate care he received as a patient.
Since their inception over 20 years ago, these awards have been bestowed upon dozens of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare specialists at The Princess Margaret who have been nominated by patients and their loved ones for their embodiment of five core values: compassion, integrity, safety, stewardship, and teamwork.
Dr. Amir’s nominator highlighted how he creates an environment where both patients and staff feel safe to ask questions and express their feelings. “His presence makes others braver. I can honestly say I am who I am today because of Dr. Amir.”
When Dr. Amir finished medical school, he knew he wanted to pursue medicine, rather than surgery. Today, he specializes in delivering drug-based treatments for breast cancer, like hormone therapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy.
“Much of the treatment that you do to reduce the risk of recurrence is delivered over several years," said Dr. Amir. “It's one of these unique specialties where you get to develop long-term relationships with patients.”
“Being nominated for this award is very gratifying,” said Dr. Amir, “especially knowing that it comes from my patients and colleagues because there are just so many good people at The Princess Margaret working hard to deliver quality cancer care.”
“When a patient thanks me and tells me they’re feeling better even though they’re not at the end of their treatment yet – that makes me really happy to hear and motivates me to keep expanding my work.”
Fellow award recipient Simone Kurup says patients make her work meaningful as a Social Work Program Specialist with the Adolescent and Young Adult Program.
“I recognize that when patients and their families are at The Princess Margaret, it's one of the most vulnerable times in their life,” said Simone. “It’s a privilege to be a part of someone's journey and help them navigate this extremely difficult time. Despite their diagnosis and their illness, I really try to help them feel like they're being seen as a person first.”
Her ‘person-first’ approach is evident through the ten nominations she received. One patient recalled, “As a young man during my diagnosis, I never felt as supported as when I spoke to Simone on a weekly basis. She helped me get through the hardest and darkest time in my life.”
Simone was humbled to find out she was a recipient of this award. “It’s a huge honour to receive an award that’s in memory of someone and to be connected in a small way to Gerald Kirsh and his legacy. It’s very validating and feels really rewarding to know that the passion I have for my work has been recognized.”
We are also proud to celebrate Dr. Amir’s and Simone’s fellow 2025 nominees, including two past recipients, Shelley Westergard and Harjot Singh Vohra, as well as Jesse Graham, Michelle Ganesh, Nicole Sommerville, Andrea Ipanaque, Dr. Philippe Bedard, Daniela Fierini, Geremy Capone, Bernice D'Souza, and Dr. Marta Davidson.
A special awards ceremony was held to recognize the recipients and nominees. You can watch the full ceremony here. The winners’ names will appear on a special recognition wall for Gerald Kirsh Humanitarian Award recipients on the Cancer Centre’s main floor.
To learn more about the Gerald Kirsh Humanitarian Awards, or submit a nomination for 2026, please visit thepmcf.ca/kirsh-awards/ or e-mail KirshAwards@thepmcf.ca.