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Dana-Farber Cancer Institute – We’re Proud to Launch Direct Connect for Firefighters

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/LinkedIn

Jul 1, 2025, 08:39

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute – We’re Proud to Launch Direct Connect for Firefighters

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute posted on LinkedIn:

“We’re proud to launch Direct Connect for Firefighters, a specialized cancer navigation initiative offered to organizations around the country to meet the unique needs of firefighters—a group at higher risk for cancer due to occupational hazards.

Direct Connect for Firefighters, created after an initial collaboration with Massachusetts firefighter organizations began in 2024, focuses on three key areas: increasing engagement with local firefighter departments and unions, providing oncology content for their training programs; offering firefighter organizations expert, evidence-based clinical guidance on cancer screening and early detection; and collaborating on research to develop tailored cancer screening and early detection recommendations specifically for firefighters.

“Firefighters in Boston and across the country face danger every day, from the fires they fight and from increased cancer risks due to exposure to harmful chemicals. We’ve witnessed too many of our own battling cancer at higher rates than the general population,” said Sam Dillon, President of Boston Firefighters IAFF Local 718.

“Expanding Dana-Farber’s Direct Connect program to better serve firefighters, who tirelessly protect our communities, is a vital initiative. It’s incredibly rewarding to work with these brave individuals and contribute to their health and well-being and assure the best oncology care is available to them, when it is needed,” said Elizabeth (Betsy) O’Donnell, MD, Director of Early Detection and Prevention of Malignant Conditions.

Learn more about the program.”

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