In 1943, The Detroit Institute for Cancer Research was incorporated with just $483 and 200 shares of General Motors stock. It later became a non-profit organization. Grace Hospital radiologist Dr. Rollin H. Stevens was appointed the institute’s first president, overseeing 12 independent researchers.

The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute (KCI) was formed in 1994 through a strategic partnership of the Meyer L. Prentis Comprehensive Cancer Center of Metropolitan Detroit, the Wayne State University Cancer Institute, the Michigan Cancer Foundation, and the clinical cancer programs of the Detroit Medical Center.