“In the Family,” a film by Joanna Rudnick, takes an intensely personal look at what follows the results of a predictive genetic test. At age 27, Joanna confronted a strong family history of breast and ovarian cancers by getting testing for the “breast cancer gene,” or BRCA1. Learning she has a mutation that brings a drastically increased risk, she now faces an impossible decision: would you sacrifice your breasts, your ovaries, your fertility, to possibly save your life?

As Joanna struggles with this decision in the midst of a new romantic relationship, she seeks out other women who also must deal with a family history of the gene. Some are living with the mutation and the cancer it may have caused, while others face the test itself, trying to prepare for their own or a loved one’s results.

Blending the emotional with the investigative, ”In the Family” attempts to navigate the unpredictable path of predictive genetic testing.

This event will be held on the Chicago and Evanston campuses on alternate evenings. For information on the Evanston event, please click here. To view a trailer of the film, please click here.

Funding for the Silverstein Lecture Series is provided by the Herman M. and Bea L. Silverstein Medical Research Fund for Genetic Medicine. All Silverstein events are free, open to the public, and designed to provide forums where leading experts discuss the importance of developments in genetics research in terms understandable to nonscientists.