Stephanie “Autumn” Gaston, RN, carries a small memorial card tucked into the pages of her work planner. The ink has faded over time, but the patient it honors — a young girl with gastric cancer — is never far from her thoughts. 

The girl had been in and out of the hospital frequently, and as her condition progressed, Gaston cared for her one-on-one in the inpatient oncology unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. She was there for the long hours of treatment, the quiet moments of hope, and the heartbreaking final days.

That patient wasn’t her first loss, nor her last. But like many Gaston has cared for, she left a mark.

“She was the kindest and gentlest,” Gaston recalls. “I kind of take a little piece of her with me wherever I go.”

Now a clinical research nurse at the Henri and Belinda Termeer Center for Targeted Therapies at Mass General, Gaston supports patients enrolled in phase one investigational cancer treatments. For many, these are uncharted waters: they’re often either newly diagnosed with advanced cancer or seeking experimental options after exhausting standard care.

Gaston helps administer cutting-edge medications while closely monitoring for side effects and managing symptoms. Some patients come weekly, others monthly — and over time, those visits build connections. “We get to form a relationship with them and get to know them on a more personal basis,” she says.

That relationship building is central to how Gaston approaches her job. To her, nursing is not just clinical care; it’s showing up for the person as a whole.

“An exceptional nurse is caring, empathetic, and a strong advocate,” she says. “[They] are able to give whole patient care — not just treat the symptoms or treat the disease … and care for them as a whole mind, body, and soul.”

That same attentiveness shaped Gaston’s path to nursing in the first place. Raised in Dorchester, Mass., in a multigenerational household, she felt the pull toward the profession after losing her grandfather to colon cancer in 2004, and later while helping care for her grandmother during her final weeks with uterine cancer.

“I watched my grandmother have, what seemed to me, not an awful death,” Gaston says. “I wanted to give people the same kind of care.”

By the time she entered nursing school, she knew exactly the kind of nurse she wanted to be. Her clinical rotations consistently placed her on oncology floors. And when she graduated, she took her first full-time position in inpatient medical oncology at Mass General, where she stayed for nearly eight years. Eventually, Gaston transitioned to the Termeer Center, drawn by a desire to work more closely with research and innovation.

“An exceptional nurse is caring, empathetic, and a strong advocate.”

Autumn Gaston

While this line of work offers a front-row seat to progress in cancer treatment, it also brings emotional challenges. Many patients are navigating unknowns at a difficult point in their journey. In the hardest moments, Gaston relies on the support of her team. 

“Nursing is special, but I think oncology is really special in that it attracts a certain kind of person,” she says. “We really lean on each other.”

And through it all — the breakthroughs, the losses, the recoveries — Gaston holds close the stories of the people she’s cared for. Sometimes, it’s a memory. Sometimes, it’s a card tucked into a planner. But always, it’s a deep appreciation for the work. 

“I love what I do,” she says. “Everything, from the little things to the big things — it just makes me tick.”

Autumn’s nomination letter:

I have been privileged to work with Stephanie (Autumn) Gaston in the Termeer Center for Targeted Therapies, the research unit treating oncology patients participating in clinical trials for cancer treatment development at Massachusetts General Hospital. 

Autumn is a capable, knowledgeable, and skilled oncology nurse who consistently attends to patients’ emotional and spiritual needs, as well as their physical care. Autumn immediately puts patients at ease, making them feel cared for, cared about, and understood in their unique humanity. 

While consistently providing expert nursing care, Autumn also demonstrates her thorough knowledge of medical research practices, ensuring the reliability and validity of data obtained from each patient’s experience with a study drug. Her work directly contributes to the development of effective new oncology therapies for future generations of patients. 

Autumn is recognized as an important leader in the oncology research unit, and she is a critical resource for nursing care and research processes. Her colleagues, such as myself, grow in our own practices daily through her presence. 

Not only is she knowledgeable and capable, but she also has an endearing sense of humor that fosters learning and growth in patients and professional colleagues alike and diffuses anxiety, promoting a sense of well-being throughout the unit. 

The MGH research unit for oncology therapies is blessed to have Autumn on its team. The patients benefit directly and indirectly from her research nursing expertise, and the multidisciplinary staff are stronger clinicians due to her presence.
Nominated by Elizabeth Johnson