EP 257: Managing hereditary cancer risk and medical uncertainty with Marleah Dean Kruzel of the University of South Florida

This week on The Genetics Podcast, Patrick is joined by Dr. Marleah Dean Kruzel, Professor of Communication at the University of South Florida. They discuss her personal path from watching breast cancer move through her family to testing positive for a hereditary mutation herself, the ART framework she developed for managing uncertainty, and the complexities of communicating genetic risk within families.

Show Notes

0:00 Intro to The Genetics Podcast

00:59 Welcome to Marleah

01:35 Marleah's family history of breast cancer across four generations

02:48 Marleah's childhood living through her mother's five-year cancer battle

04:26 Marleah's experience with genetic testing

07:19 How a positive test result reshaped Marleah’s PhD research focus

08:40 The central challenges of living with a positive test result 

10:50 The ART framework for managing hereditary cancer uncertainty

15:06 Applying the ART framework to Patrick’s experience with uncertainty and the importance of having a support system 

19:53 Common misconceptions in how families communicate genetic risk

23:54 The previvor identity and the chronic uncertainty it brings

25:40 How Marleah has learned to accept and embrace uncertainty

27:57 Balancing logic and emotion in hereditary cancer family planning

31:28 How Marleah grounds her research tools in patients' lived experience

33:21 How AI is eroding our capacity to sit with uncertainty

35:57 Redesigning healthcare for a lifespan of genetic risk information

38:10 Closing remarks