Annie Parker lost her mother, sister and a cousin to breast cancer before she was 30 years old. Parker, from Toronto, subsequently received her own breast cancer diagnosis and she believed it was no coincidence.
Annie Parker was one of the first North American women to be tested through research that led to the groundbreaking discovery of the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes, which proved that as many as 5% to 10% of all cases of breast and ovarian cancer are hereditary.
Parker's story has been made into a film, "Decoding Annie Parker." She and director/producer Steven Bernstein will be in Rochester Monday, June 24 for a screening of the film at the Dryden Theater of the George Eastman House. The event is sponsored by Gilda's Club of Rochester.