OUR COMMUNITY

16 | DECEMBER 16 • 2021

would go to and what to do in
the worst-case scenario. It was
powerful to have a plan within
less than a week of my diagno-
sis, whereas for others it may
take weeks to even be seen by a
specialist to receive a diagnosis.
”
Foon had a double mastec-
tomy in December 2020 and
began chemotherapy later that
month. Now, like her mother,
she is cancer-free.
She emphasized that the pub-
lic should not think that genetic
testing should be limited to
those concerned about breast
cancer.
“JScreen tests for 60 heredi-
tary cancer gene mutations and
200 genetic diseases that are
common to Ashkenazi Jews,
”
said Foon. “So, this is not just
about the (BRCA1/2) gene.
From screening for cancers and
other diseases to reproductive
gene mutations for those who
are planning a family, there are
now hundreds of life-saving
opportunities that are now
available to our Detroit Jewish
community with JScreen
Detroit.
”
Ellyn Davidson is a mother

of three and a
14-year cancer
survivor. She
learned she had
inherited the
BRCA mutation
only at the time
she was diagnosed
with breast cancer at age 36.
She is a former board member
and president of the national
organization Facing Our Risk
of Cancer (FORCE), a support
organization for people facing
hereditary cancers. She said she
is pleased that JScreen Detroit
will not only raise the aware-
ness about genetic screening
but will also lower the financial
barriers, as genetic screening
is often not covered by health
insurance.
“This powerful program
is going to save lives, said
Davidson, CEO of Brogan &
Partners, which is financially
contributing to offset JScreen
costs. “I did not have an aware-
ness of my (BRCA) genetic
mutation before I was diag-
nosed with cancer, but if I did,
there would have been things I
could have done to prevent that

diagnosis. Knowledge is power.
That’s the message to drive
home about cancer screening. It
is best to understand what your
options.
”

FAMILY PLANNING
JScreen can also be essential
for couples wishing to begin a
family.
Thanks to two successful in
vitro fertilization (IVF) preg-
nancies, Katie Rosen, 34, and
her husband, Matt Kurzmann,
31, have two healthy sons,
2 years and 6 months. The
Bloomfield Hills couple come
from large families with no
known hereditary diseases.
Through JScreen’s growing
testing panel of over 226 muta-
tions, they learned that they
both carried a mutation for
two genetic defects and were
at risk of passing them along
to a child, including a rare but
potentially fatal genetic disorder
called RAPSYN. Their chances
of having a child with one or
both genetic diseases is 50%.
Empowered with that infor-
mation, Rosen and Kurzmann
decided to have their children
through IVF with pre-
implantation genetic test-

ing — a complex, multi-stage
procedure to identify viable
embryos safe and suitable for
implanting (or freezing for
future use). Through this pro-
cess, they learned that many of
their embryos tested positive
for genetic mutations that could
have led to severe birth defects.
“Without such a compre-
hensive genetic screening
panel such as the one JScreen
provides, it would have been
a long, painful process to get
pregnant,
” said Rosen, a urol-
ogist. “For couples wishing to
plan a family, JScreen testing
spares a lot of heartache and
time. And because RAPSYN
is very rare, we wouldn’t have
even known we had this muta-
tion if we did not get testing
through JScreen. The program’s
testing panel is far more com-
prehensive compared to what
you would get at your doctor’s
office.
”
JScreen Detroit is fund-
ed by a $40,000 grant from
the Detroit Medical Center
Foundation and additional gen-
erous funding from the Lacey
Foon Family Fund. To apply for
screening, go to https://jfamily.
jccdet.org/jscreen.

Ellyn
Davidson

continued from page 15

Lacey and Elliot
Foon and
daughters
Eloise and
Phoebe

Katie Rosen and
Matt Kurzmann
and son Brock

JOHN HARDWICK

Detroit: 400 Renaissance Center, Ste. 1404, Detroit, MI 48243 • 313-567-6837

Bloomfield Hills: 39475 Woodward Ave, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304 • 248-792-9609

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