Research Staff Spotlight: Julie Hernandez, MS, CCRP

Julie Hernandez, MS, CCRP, was a pre-med student at California State University, Fullerton, when she took a position at CHLA as a volunteer clinical research assistant. She thought she would add some research experience to her resume for medical school. Instead, she changed her career.

“Once I got into clinical research, I really loved it,” Julie shares. “You get to be at the forefront of medicine and a lifelong learner. You learn about medicine, regulatory issues, protocols, logistics and more. It’s like a jack-of-all-trades job.”

After starting her career at CHLA as a Clinical Research Assistant and Clinical Research Coordinator, she left in 2019 to work in clinical research at CHOC. She rejoined CHLA in 2022 as a Clinical Research Supervisor, where she manages several teams of clinical research assistants and coordinators across multiple divisions.

“I love that CHLA does a great job of serving their community,” Julie adds. “When I was younger, I didn’t know what mission and vision meant. But now it’s really important to me. I like that a lot of the research we do considers how we give back to our communities.”

To add to her lifelong learning, she recently completed her master’s in integrated design, business and technology at USC. Julie calls herself “a little bit of a homebody,” but she loves to explore new restaurants and spend time with her partner, her friends and her dog, Lady.