Julia became Medical Director of the Academic Health Science Network, North East North Cumbria in 2017. She graduated from Newcastle University Medical School in 1990 and since then has worked in a range of roles in the North East of England. She became a Consultant Physician with an interest in Geriatric Medicine in 2000, and Clinical Professor of Ageing & Medicine at Newcastle University in 2008. She was Dean of Clinical Medicine in the Faculty of Medical Sciences until 2015, and until 2019 Deputy Medical Director of Newcastle Hospitals Trust and Director of Newcastle Academic Health Partners. She has a PhD in physiological sciences from Newcastle University and her research focusses upon understanding the causes of fatigue in chronic diseases. In her AHSN role she is the Executive Lead for the AAC/AHSN National Lipid Management and Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Programme.