Turning Grief into Discovery: Julia Holmes Analyzes ALS Treatment

Inspired by her late uncle’s battle with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), senior Julia Holmes is channeling her grief into research. 

Watching her “indestructible” uncle, whom she looked up to as a symbol of strength and perseverance, struggle with this condition impacted her profoundly. “It was so hard to watch him get worse, because I always saw him as so big and strong,” she said.

ALS is a degenerative disease that breaks down motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. This disease is also called Lou Gehrig’s disease after the famous baseball player who was first diagnosed in 1939.

ALS causes muscle breakdown and a lack of function throughout the body. As ALS progresses, even basic actions like eating and talking become more difficult. This diagnosis is usually fatal, with an average life expectancy of three years.

Holmes kept the memory of her uncle in mind for her project choice. This summer, the exercise science major and volleyball player is analyzing the current literature concerning ALS, as well as any links between ALS and physical therapy. Ultimately, she is conducting a narrative review seeking gaps in current treatments to determine where more research can be conducted in the future.

“There are many different factors that go into why there isn’t much research about it, but I knew I wanted to do my project on physical therapy,” Holmes said.

Holmes is focusing on existing work largely to reduce the number of moving parts involved. Due to a lack of a sizable patient base in the Bloomsburg area, she is confident that reviewing literature will lead to more conclusive results.

She will present at the Susquehanna Valley Undergraduate Research Symposium on July 22, where she will have both a poster and a presentation. She will also gather all of her findings into a research paper at the end of the summer semester.

Dr. Luke Haile, associate professor of rehabilitation sciences, is Holmes’ advisor for this project. He says that any graduate project, such as this one, involves a large literature review. However, the topic of interest is up to the student themselves.

“A lot of students choose this sort of route, where there’s something they’re really passionate about, and it’s about guiding them through the research,” explains Haile. Throughout this process, these students become experts in their chosen field.
Haile is particularly excited to look into this under-studied area of research — shining light on the role of physical therapy and how it can be helpful for these “rare and seemingly hopeless conditions.”

After this project, Holmes plans to attend graduate school, leaning towards a career working with people who suffer from physical disabilities. Inspired by her uncle and his struggle, she wants to help others in similar circumstances.

To graduate school, Holmes will bring knowledge from both this project and her volunteer experiences at Honeceker Lifestyle Fitness in Bloomsburg. Although they offer personal training instead of physical therapy, their clientele includes a significant number of patrons with physical disabilities. It is very rewarding, according to Holmes, to help these clients rebuild their strength little by little.

She is hoping to bring these experiences into her future career, but for now, Holmes is most excited to challenge her preconceived notions about physical therapy and ALS. 

For example, she looks forward to learning about the technologies used to treat the disability. “There are a lot of things that I thought I knew going into it, but that I didn’t know at all.”