Prior to attending Brown Julia received her Nursing degree. She graduated from Brown with a degree in Literature. Julia was a practicing nurse in California for a few years before accepting a position as Director of the American Heart Association. She earned her MS in Health Policy from the University of California, San Francisco while serving as the Vice President and later, Regional Director of the American Heart Association. She is completing her doctoral work at the University of California at San Francisco her research interests include how working conditions can affect health behaviors. Julia is the author of 3 books, Your Care Plan: A Nurses Guide to Healthy Living; Flying the Edge of America and most recently, Black Nightingale: Mary Seacole: Hero of the Crimean War.