TORCH Awards

This annual program has been established to recognize individuals who have made a meaningful contribution to a lysosomal storage disorder community, or to a disease area within Sanofi’s rare disease research and development program. Individuals receiving TORCH awards have found a way, in their own capacity, to bring awareness to rare diseases and to educate, empower, advance, or connect patients.

This scholarship program is through Sanofi. All applications are de-identified prior to review, and will be evaluated using a scoring rubric by a panel of Sanofi employees who are familiar with the rare disease community but do not currently work in the space.

Help us recognize individuals who have taken action in contributing to the LSD community or rare disease community! You have the opportunity each year to nominate multiple individuals for a TORCH Award. You can nominate yourself, a family member/loved one, or an individual you know.

The nomination period for the TORCH Awards is listed on the current year’s application, which is available for download at a link below. If you cannot download the application and need a copy sent to you directly, please reach out to Kathleen.Tighe@Sanofi.com.

Applications received with email timestamp by the close of the nomination period will be considered. There will be no applications accepted after the period closing. Applications not accepted due to incomplete content should be resubmitted for the following program year.

Sanofi will review the nominations and choose up to five (5) recipients for a TORCH Award. Recipients will be honored as part of the TORCH Awards ceremony, which is held in August of each year, and recognized publicly in external communications as well as social media activities hosted by Sanofi. Recipients have no obligation to Sanofi.

In addition to publicly recognizing each recipient and sharing their story, Sanofi will donate $5,000 to a non-profit organization connected to the community of each recipient’s choosing, subject to certain limitations required by company policy. Sanofi will send a check directly to the selected organizations following review by our internal charitable contributions team.

Requirements for nominees and award recipients of the Sanofi TORCH Awards program are listed below.

• Nominee must have made a significant contribution to an LSD community, or to a Sanofi research and development area of focus to educate, empower, advance, or connect patients.
• Nominee must accept the opportunity to be recognized through the TORCH Awards program.
• The application must have been submitted prior to the program closing deadline, as stated on the current year’s application. You must submit your application electronically.
• There is no limit to the number of nominations you can submit. Each nominee must be submitted on their own application, unless it is an effort where multiple individuals are involved, in which case one application should be submitted for those relevant nominees. Examples of appropriate group nominations include a family that plans a community awareness event, a pair/team that work together at an organization to raise awareness for health equity, or a married couple who hosts a fundraiser.
• Nominated individuals must be residents of the United States or its territories.
• Nominees of all ages are welcome, including children.
• Nominators are required to identify themselves on the application.
• Employees, former employees, or relatives of Sanofi employees may nominate individuals for a TORCH Award, but cannot receive a TORCH Award.
• Recipients of a TORCH Award are ineligible for future TORCH Awards.

The list of currently eligible rare diseases is listed below. This list may not be comprehensive. Many of these disorders have alternative names that are not all listed. Some diseases may be more commonly classified in other ways but still be within the LSD or rare disease category. If you do not see a diagnosis on this list that you believe should be included, we encourage you to contact us to clarify eligibility. 

The program will select winners based on the evaluation of the deidentified nomination letter and application and the extent to which the nominee embodies the qualities of the TORCH Awards program. Based on the applications received, every effort will be made to identify at least one recipient who is making an impact on health equity, diversity, and inclusion and to select at least one recipient who is under the age of 18.