After nearly 30 years as an NBC News correspondent, Kristen Dahlgren is stepping away from the world of journalism to focus her energies on a new non-profit Pink Eraser Project, which will work to bring the nation’s top minds together to accelerate breast cancer vaccines.
Dahlgren, a breast cancer survivor, announced her departure live on Tuesday’s edition of Today, saying, “I’m excited about the prospect of my own body fighting off a cancer recurrence, or a day my little girl could be protected from ever going down this road. So when I realized there might be a way that I could actually help the process — I was all in.”
The NBC News staple began her journalism career as an intern on NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw in 1993 and was diagnosed with breast cancer while on assignment in September 2019. She went through eight rounds of chemotherapy and 25 rounds of radiation before becoming cancer-free in April 2020.
In an essay posted on Today’s website, Dahlgren writes, “If I have learned anything in my decades as a journalist, it is that one person really can change the world. Of course, it is much more effective if it becomes a movement with everyone behind it. According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, 1 in eight American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. An estimated 43,000 will die from it this year. Why wouldn’t we try to stop it?”
Today co-hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie paid tribute to Dahlgren on Tuesday, with Kotb saying, “Can we just mark a moment right here with you on this couch? You have been at NBC for nearly 30 years. This is your very last report. We want to say thank you because all of your reporting, all of your dedication, you always brought your heart and soul to every story.”
Guthrie added, “It’s your last report for NBC. It is not your last appearance. You are an amazing colleague and friend and supporter to all of us, and we love you, Kristen.”
Watch Dahlgren’s last appearance as an NBC News correspondent here.
An estimated 43,000 people will die from breast cancer this year. @kristendahlgren reports on the race to develop vaccines for cancer, the deeply personal project ‘The Pink Eraser Project’ and the reason behind her decision to leave NBC News. pic.twitter.com/w7r0zoPubr
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) January 30, 2024