Humanities in Medicine / Howard Spiro Lecture Series: "Am I My Genes?"

Confronting Fate and Family Secrets in the Age of Genetic Testing. Author and psychiatrist Dr. Klitzman explores the experiences of individuals confronting genetic diseases and the full impact of this predicament on their lives- from issues of identity and fate, to those of reproductive choices. His aim is to ready us- as individuals and as a broader society for the onslaught of genetic information that is fast approaching. He is the author of When Doctors Become Patients, Tales of a Medical Internship, In a House of Dreams and Glass: Becoming a Psychiatrist and other works.

In the bounty of genetic information that is becoming available from exciting breakthroughs in genomic analysis, there is a parallel upsurge in the issues surrounding the use of this information. There are numerous ethical issues that arise in the identification of mutated genes; there are likewise the burdens and uncertainties that are imposed upon those in whom the genetic abnormalities have been discovered. Dr. Klitzman provides a human voice amidst the clamor that promises to become louder as medicine and science plunge further into this challenging field.