Shannon Pulaski

October 1, 2019

It’s Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Week – Let’s talk about Preventative Care and the Power of Support

I’m driving down a pleasant, tree lined road, but my stomach is in knots as I drive around the bend. The building is right before the highway. If I ...

Kim Horner

August 6, 2019

Talking To My 9-Year-Old Before My Risk-Reducing Double Mastectomy

My son, Leo, was in diapers when I tested positive for a BRCA2 mutation. My grandmother and great-grandmother died of breast cancer in their 40’s...

CURE Magazine

May 28, 2019

23, BRCA and Me

At-home DNA testing kits have become very popular and for good reason. The tests are affordable (usually in the $50 to $200 range) and are easy to per...

Starr Mautner

May 13, 2019

I got it from my mama

In honor of Mother’s Day, it is time to reflect on all of the things you inherited from your mom- maybe it’s her eye color, intelligence, height, ...

Shannon Pulaski

April 16, 2019

Learning the Language

Shannon Pulaski, founder of Proactive Genes, discusses how she learned of her own family's hereditary cancer risk after her mother's physician recomme...

CURE Magazine

March 19, 2019

Reflections on Life After Two Prophylactic Surgeries

WHEN AMY BYER SHAINMAN’S sister Jan received a uterine and ovarian cancer diagnosis in 2008, Jan was not advised to undergo genetic testing. However...

CURE Magazine

March 12, 2019

Taking Control of One’s Family Health History

At CURE’s patient-focused meeting, held at the 36th Annual Miami Breast Cancer Conference, Ellen Matloff president and CEO of My Gene Counsel, and S...

Shannon Pulaski

March 5, 2019

First Tool in the Toolbox

Shannon Pulaski discusses the first tool in the Proactive Genes toolbox: "Mom's Genes." "It's intended for small children to be a conversation star...

Maureen Boesen

February 19, 2019

My Genetic Test Results Were Wrong

In this blog, Maureen Boesen discusses her experience in learning her genetic test results were, in fact, wrong about being BRCA positive. This blog ...

Shannon Pulaski

February 5, 2019

Finding Inspiration from Family

The inspiration to write a book is sometimes hard to come by. But for Mom's Genes author Shannon Pulaski, inspiration was right in front of her in the...

Shannon Pulaski

January 29, 2019

Positively Deleterious

My head started spinning as I left my genetic counselor’s office. There was just one word from that session that rang in my ears: positive. It wa...

Marisol Rosas

January 22, 2019

Talking to My Son About Hereditary Cancer

I first found out I had a genetic mutation a few months after my second son was born and my older son was barely 3 years old. Having lost my mother to...

CURE Magazine

December 18, 2018

Podcast: A Long History of BRCA

Dating back to 1860 in Poland, three sisters’ journeys with the BRCA mutation isn’t exactly the claim to fame they were hoping for. Kathryn (Wi...

CURE Magazine

December 4, 2018

Love the Genes You’ve Got, But Get Them Tested, Too

I love fashion, and growing up, nothing was better than a good pair of jeans. They could be slimming, make you taller, hide your long torso with a rid...

CURE Magazine

November 27, 2018

Giving Tuesday: What You Need to Know

Giving Tuesday, an initiative launched in 2012, is a day celebrated globally with the goal of kicking off the charitable season through the power of s...

Shannon Pulaski

November 6, 2018

Fostering a Community to Start the Conversation

After finding a tremendous need within the community of families with genetic mutations, Shannon Pulaski chose to offer others a resource tool to help...

CURE Magazine

October 30, 2018

Discussing Hereditary Cancer Risk With Children

Genetic risk for cancer is random. For people who carry specific mutations, such as BRCA1 or BRCA2, there is a 50/50 chance they will pass that gene o...

CURE Magazine

October 23, 2018

Creating Mom’s Genes

One mother with a BRCA gene mutation has written a book to help parents discuss family health histories with their young children. When I was 27, my ...

Harvey Singer

October 16, 2018

Men to Boys: A Discussion of Hereditary Cancer with Your Children

In early 2008, I received a phone call from my sister informing me that after her third breast cancer diagnosis, she had decided to undergo genetic te...

Alejandra Campoverdi

October 9, 2018

Q&A with Alejandra Campoverdi

From the White House to raising awareness in her community, Alejandra Campoverdi is helping to empower women of color to have agency over their own he...

Shannon Pulaski

October 1, 2018

Podcast: Knowing Your Hereditary Risk

In 2010, history was made when a Congressional resolution was passed to declare the first-ever National Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Week and ...

Sue Friedman

September 11, 2018

Cancer Doesn’t Run in My Family…Or Does It?

There’s a common misperception that only people with many family members with cancer should have genetic testing for an inherited mutation. Yet, the...

Tracy Milgram-Posner

September 4, 2018

Previvor Mom

There’s no doubt that being a Previvor is challenging. Although we have not been diagnosed with cancer, just knowing that someday out of the blue ca...

Shannon Pulaski

August 30, 2018

Podcast: Let’s Start a Conversation

Earlier this week I had the great opportunity to sit down with CURE Magazine for their CURE Talks Cancer Podcast to discuss the launch of Proactive Ge...

Amy Byer Shainman

August 27, 2018

Pioneering Women, Angelina Jolie and Mac and Cheese

I happen to be part of a generation of women who are the first in our families able to get ahead of our genes. We are a generation of women who, unlik...

Shannon Pulaski

August 20, 2018

Why I am starting a conversation with my kids about our family’s health history

When I was 27, I gave birth to twin girls. They were born exactly two months early. Ten days later, in that same hospital where my daughters rested in...