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SF grad starts independent study at W&J College on her own ‘genetic mystery’

By Jacob Calvin Meyer Staff Writer Jmeyer@thealmanac.Net 3 min read
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Like most college students, Haley Kulas chose her area of study because of a high school class.

Kulas, a 2014 South Fayette High School graduate, was enthralled by Jeffrey McGowan’s freshman biology class. Unlike most students, though, she is taking a personal challenge head on by majoring in biology.

Kulas, now a senior at Washington & Jefferson College, was born with a genetic condition classified as an unknown form of muscular dystrophy. She’s been a wheelchair user her whole life, and she’s been classified up to this point as a “genetic mystery.”

She grew up having biopsies done and giving blood, hoping each new test would provide an answer. They still haven’t.

So, Kulas started an independent study at W&J to study her own genetics. Working with adjunct professor of biology, Emily Furbee, who is the independent project advisor, Kulas hopes to move closer to finding an answer.

“It’s not that I want to try to solve the mystery, because I don’t have enough education yet,” Kulas said. “But I think I have enough to propose a suggestion.”

Over the summer, Kulas interned at the Hemophilia Center of Western Pennsylvania, where she interned as a genetic counselor. As someone who wants to be a genetic counselor in the future, Kulas said the experience was valuable.

Throughout the independent project, Kulas is going to take what she has learned in her college courses, and what she learned at her internship this past summer, and apply it to her own case.

“I’ll be taking what I’ve learned in my biology classes and genetic courses and kind of applying what I’ve learned to my own situation,” Kulas said. “I’m trying to apply what I’ve learned into my specific case. It’s easier that way, because I have access to all of my results, and I can have access to all of my genetic data. So I’m just kind of taking what I want to know in my field of genetic counseling and what I’ve learned in the classroom and putting it all into this case study that I’m doing for my independent project.”

Growing up, Kulas said she didn’t truly understand her condition until she took that biology class her freshman year of high school. She thought the biopsies and regularly giving blood were normal. That’s why she wants to be a genetic counselor; she wants to help people understand their genetics.

“Growing up, I know I couldn’t really understand it, and so that’s why I kind of went that direction because I want to understand myself and I want to help others know what’s going on,” she said.

In her final year at W&J, she hopes to find answers that will help others.

“I want to be there for them, because I know what they’re going through,” she said. “The job has the best of both worlds. You have the science portion and you get to have that patient contact.”

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