Julia Segar PA-C, will divide her time between the emergency room of a level one trauma center, making a difference in the lives of others, and adventuring in the mountains with her loved ones, maintaining a healthy balance in her own life.

The National Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence describes domestic violence (DV) as “abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another.” Unfortunately, more than 10 million adults are victims of DV each year. DV can make one feel unsafe and at risk in their relationship, but it’s often difficult for survivors to leave. Fear of backlash and increased violence from the abusive partner along with lack of resources or support outside the relationship are often the main factors influencing one’s decision to leave a violent relationship. It’s easy to feel like there’s no way out, especially if you don’t have the right support to help you through it. EmBark Foundation is a national nonprofit, founded in 2021 with the mission to support survivors of DV by spreading awareness and offering survivor support. Our tagline is “supporting survivors and their furry friends” and we work to bring some extra love into the lives of those who need it. Not only do we support survivors, EmBark also raises DV awareness and spreads online resources to hopefully reach those who may benefit from them. In a short span of time, we have grown tremendously as a foundation. EmBark now accommodates a wider range of trauma survivors including DV, sexual violence, and child abuse. We offer survivor care packages, but our main area of support comes in the form of a furry friend. Having a little sidekick that loves and supports you unconditionally is special and comforting and can be very helpful in the healing process. EmBark Foundation recognized the issue of overcrowding in animal shelters, so we decided one way we can support both survivors and shelter animals is to pair the two. EmBark raises money for rescue animal adoption, vet bills, and emotional support animal certifications to make furry friends more accessible to survivors. My specific role with EmBark is through the flagship chapter at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. I serve on the executive board as social media chair, and I love the service I do in this position! As a board, we host monthly meetings where we spread awareness about specific social issues related to our mission each month (ex: DV Awareness Month, Child Abuse Prevention Month, etc.), update members on exciting things happening at the national level such as recent adoptions, and discuss our plans for the month ahead. We coordinate fundraising events, awareness campaigns, and volunteer at our local animal shelter! Being the social media chair is an opportunity to engage in member outreach and involvement. I love meeting individuals with similar interests to mine and being able to help them help others! I create interactive campaigns for members to post to Instagram stories, design “Badger Buddies” posts where members send in a paragraph about what their furry friends mean to them, and I get the joy of receiving random pet pictures from our members! I even organized a pet costume contest in October, which brought some lighthearted joy to everyone! I wholeheartedly believe in EmBark Foundation’s mission and I’m grateful to make difference in my community that extends beyond attaining a certain number of volunteer hours, but something I’m passionate about. I’d talk about EmBark forever if it weren’t for a word limit, but I’ll leave you with this: if you or anyone you know is in an abusive relationship, I promise there’s help. For nationwide and local resources, check out embarkfoundation.org under survivor support – resources. If you need a friend don’t hesitate to reach out to me or my partners at EmBark!

My grandmother, Marcia, was an elementary school teacher, a leader in her church, a mentor to me, and a light in the lives of those around her. Today, she resides in a memory care facility, her free spirit now captured both by the padlocked, anti-escape doors around her and the tau tangles engulfing her brain. I am no stranger to the way Alzheimer’s disease takes over its victims. This is relevant in many aspects of my life, as a granddaughter, an emergency medical technician, and an Alzheimer’s disease (AD) undergraduate researcher. I first noticed the effects of AD on my grandmother about four years ago. We were at the cabin my grandparents used to bring my family to every year. She went for a walk around the woods, following her favorite trail. Hours later, my grandmother had not returned. I noted a tone of defeat in my grandfather’s voice as he announced he would go out there and search for her. My great-aunt had been diagnosed with AD a few years prior, so our family knew it was a likely possibility, but nothing can adequately prepare you for the experiences that come with watching dementia take over the personality of someone you love. The diagnosis was the hardest on my grandfather. He loves my grandmother and works very hard caring for her, but I can only imagine how devastating it must be to watch the personality of your lifelong best friend and partner fade away. My grandmother has been a grateful and kind woman as long as I’ve known her, but AD can change someone’s personality immensely. During her episodes, she became angry, confused, and unhappy. This put a lot of pressure on my grandfather who was her sole caretaker for the first few years. She was his only family nearby and he grew very lonely as a result of her worsening condition. In turn, this led to pressure on my mom. She tried to help out as much as she could, making the two-hour drive to visit them several times per month. My grandfather began to take his stress and anger out on my mom, and eventually, family ties were severed. It has been devastating to watch my family be torn apart because of my grandmother’s AD. I watched my mom cry many tears out of the helplessness she felt, knowing that her own mom’s symptoms were worsening and that she was unable to do anything about it. Eventually, she took the fall and allowed my grandfather to continue to take his anger out on her in return for being able to see my grandmother and help her out. They eventually decided it would be the best option to move my grandmother into a memory care facility and remove some of the caretaking responsibility from my grandfather’s shoulders. As an emergency medical technician, I have been in and out of countless nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Although I know that it is the best option for many residents and their families, none of these facilities are exactly desirable. Most of the staff I have met at these places have been generally grumpy and unwelcoming towards me and my crew. While I understand that the work they do is emotionally challenging, it hurts my heart to think about my grandmother receiving care from someone who doesn’t seem happy to be interacting with her. The memory care sections of these facilities are the worst parts, too. The doors are padlocked shut to prevent any escapees. It feels dreary and disheartening. At my grandmother’s facility, there is a woman who roams the halls every day, banging on the resident’s doors, and working tirelessly to guess the pin to the exit door. Nobody should have to live like that. Seeing the effects of Alzheimer’s disease on my grandmother and my family inspired me to become involved in research on the causes of the disease. I learned so much about the social aspects of AD through my lived experiences and it has been very interesting to learn about the physiological side of things through my research. AD develops in the brain in the form of amyloid-beta plaques and tau tangles. These kill the neuronal tissues around them, which leads to the cognitive decline that typically characterizes AD. My research focuses on the vastly under-investigated linkage between chemosensory deficits such as sleep-disordered breathing and the progression of AD. As the chemosensory response weakens and there are increased instances of hypoxia in neuronal tissues, causing amyloid-beta growth to increase, leading to more neuronal tissue death, which weakens the chemosensory response. It’s a positive feedback loop and nobody knows yet where it all begins. I run tests on mice with and without the AD gene, comparing their responses to the same stimuli. The goal here is to pinpoint when chemosensory deficits begin to emerge in relation to the plaques that cause cognitive decline. If we can determine which comes first, we will be able to better introduce treatment or preventative methods in individuals predisposed to AD. For example, if we find that it is the poor chemosensory response that initiates disease progression, we could have predisposed individuals start using CPAP machines at night to greatly decrease sleep apneas and hypoxic episodes, which would hopefully delay disease onset or progression. The project is still in progress (but should be wrapping up this summer), so I have no concrete data yet, but I am hopeful we can make a tangible difference. Alzheimer’s disease is something that uproots the lives of the individuals affected and the people around them. It is an unforgiving and relentless disease and something that I am passionate about battling. I’ve seen the way it progresses in individuals such as my grandmother and my patients and that inspires me more to find a definitive cause, and eventually, even a cure. Although I do not anticipate research being my full-time job in the future, I hope to see a cure for AD found during my lifetime. Until then, I will use the knowledge and experiences I have now to continue to provide the best level of support and care to my patients as a future physician assistant. I will continue to treat individuals as individuals, regardless of their diagnoses or dementia and I hold my colleagues accountable to do the same.

The effects of my sister’s perinatal ischemic stroke include impairments to her hearing and vision, learning disabilities, and mild cerebral palsy. The differences I have observed between my sister and I growing up have prompted my interest in neuroscience and psychology from a young age as I began questioning how her brain functioned and processed stimuli differently. The most important takeaway I have learned from Emily came from what she said before her recent strabismus surgery. “I’m stronger than my disabilities.” She’s right. Physicians must work to allow patients to reach their full potential and live a meaningful life despite the data on their chart. My calling is to do just that. Pursuing a major in neuroscience and a minor in psychology is both enticing and practical for me. The way the brain works has captivated me throughout my whole life. When I was about six, I would watch physical therapists do activities with my sister and wonder how each activity was designed to stimulate her brain. At the audiologist, I questioned how Emily’s brain processed sound differently than mine although we were hearing the same noises. I have always been interested in how the stroke has affected her and have learned more as we have grown. Because of this, I have developed a fascination with how different people’s actions reflect the happenings of their brains and the effects that certain neurological disorders have on both someone’s brain chemistry and their personality. Considering that neuroscience and psychology not only intertwine perfectly with one another but also align with my passions and interests, it was a no-brainer to pursue these two. As for these fields of study being practical, they give me a wide variety of possible careers to fall back on. I have known I want to be a physician since I was in seventh grade and have done beyond my fair share of research regarding the profession. I am no stranger to the fact that most pre-med students do not end up as doctors, most do not even make it to medical school. As strongly as I believe this will not be me, I must not turn a blind eye to the possibility. Should I choose to stray off the path to medical school, a Bachelor’s Degree in neuroscience opens up the possibility of jobs in forensic science, which would also be an exciting career. With a neuroscience degree, I could continue my education to pursue a Master’s Degree and become a physician’s assistant if I happen to find that medical school is more than I can commit to. The brain works wonders that so many will never get to fully understand. I will not let myself be one of those people. I live a life driven by a desire to learn more about everything around me and inside me. I aspire to study neuroscience and psychology to gain an in-depth understanding of the human brain so that I can use my knowledge to help others as a physician.