Julia oversees all aspects of people and culture at Xaira. She was previously chief people officer at Graphite Bio, a clinical-stage, next-generation gene editing company working to cure some of the world’s most serious genetic diseases, starting with sickle cell disease. She led the way in building a vibrant, inclusive culture at Graphite Bio, a company that was committed to developing and delivering potentially curative therapies to address the social and health inequities faced by the sickle cell and other underserved communities. Her team led the exponential growth of the company, building an incredibly diverse organization dedicated to achieving the company’s mission to make ‘one dose, one cure’ a reality for patients all around the world. Graphite Bio went public in 2021.
Throughout Julia’s career, she has played a pivotal role in scaling biotech companies from early-stage development through commercialization to IPO. At Amyris, a pioneer in synthetic biology, she was part of the executive team that advanced the company’s mission to use its novel platform to develop one part of a combination therapy for malaria in partnership with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and went on to launch impactful cleantech products such as second generation biofuels and chemicals. Julia was part of the human resources team that led the organizational buildout of Millennium Pharmaceuticals, a leader in the “personalized medicine” revolution. Millennium built a company culture renowned for its focus on employee engagement, learning and development, community and an unwavering commitment to the company’s mission to develop breakthrough therapies for patients with an initial focus on oncology. At CV Therapeutics, she led the talent acquisition function as the company launched its flagship product Ranexa for chronic angina, the most common manifestation of cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death globally.
Julia is also a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and co-founded a venture-backed cybersecurity company, Blue Lava Inc., where she served as both chief operating officer and chief community officer casting a business performance lens/perspective onto a predominantly technically focused cybersecurity industry.