Winter 2025
By Kayla Carcone
When Shannon Robins reflects on her mother’s legacy, she sees a lifelong commitment to nursing, education, and compassionate care. Jean Cunningham, a nurse for over 40 years, worked her way from a staff nurse to an executive role in nursing, all while earning advanced degrees and raising her family. Even as she fought breast cancer for over a decade, Jean’s dedication to her profession and her patients never wavered.
“My mother was a lifelong nurse who worked tirelessly to educate and empower others,” Shannon shared. “Supporting this program is my way of carrying on what she started.” Shannon and her husband, Jason Robins, co-founder and CEO of DraftKings, a Jimmy Fund corporate sponsor, made a visionary $1 million gift to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, helping to launch a first-of-its-kind palliative care education program designed by nurses, for nurses. The first cohort begins this fall. The initiative aims to train 100% of Dana-Farber’s nursing staff in palliative care, ensuring that every patient—regardless of their stage of cancer—has access to supportive care that addresses their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
“Palliative care isn’t just about the end of someone’s life—it’s about improving quality of living at every stage of the journey.”
Shannon Robins
Palliative care is specialized medical care focused on relieving the symptoms, side effects, and stress of serious illness—helping patients maintain the best possible quality of life throughout treatment. “Palliative care isn’t just about the end of someone’s life—it’s about improving quality of living at every stage of the journey,” Shannon explained.
Vanessa Battista, Senior Nursing Director of Palliative Care, emphasized the program’s transformative potential. “This initiative is about empowering nurses to provide compassionate, patient-centered care during some of the most complex moments in oncology,” she said. “It’s a cultural shift that aligns with Dana-Farber’s commitment to total patient care.”
The program also reflects a broader movement to elevate the role of nurses in oncology. Nurses are often the first point of contact for patients and families, fielding difficult questions and providing critical support. Shannon hopes the program will give nurses the confidence and tools they need to navigate these moments with ease.
With Dana-Farber’s new dedicated inpatient cancer hospital and the future clinical collaboration with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a Harvard-affiliated academic medical center, and its physician group, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians, the program’s impact is poised to grow. Hundreds of new nurses will join Dana-Farber in the coming years, and Shannon envisions this training becoming a model for other healthcare organizations.
“My hope is that palliative care becomes a standard part of every patient’s experience,” Shannon said. “This gift is about honoring my mother’s legacy, but it’s also to ensure that every family feels supported during their experience.”