Department of Medicine Welcomes Julie Park as Division Manager, Immunology and Rheumatology

Julie Park recently made the move from North Carolina to California for an opportunity to work in immunology and rheumatology at Stanford. While at Duke she grew fond of the academic setting and enjoyed “how vibrant it is on campus.” With an eye toward that kind of environment, Julie was really attracted to Stanford, a place she says has a great vibe. Specifically, she says, “Stanford has a unique relationship with Silicon Valley. It’s very innovative here. It’s an interesting area to be, and there’s a lot of diversity.”

Already, she’s had a chance to enjoy the Bay Area and appreciates its proximity to amazing hiking locations and national parks. “There’s great weather and great food,” she says. “I think people are very friendly, and they want to socialize and network.” In addition to getting to know the region, Julie is also immersing herself in the division. She says, “I think my first main project is just learning what exactly I should be doing. I want to build personal relationships with faculty and staff in the division and really beginning to make this my home and feel comfortable here.  I want to learn the Stanford way first, and then I can begin to build personal goals of what I feel like the division may need in the future.”

Participation at the strategic level is one of the things that drew Julie to the position at Stanford. Although her career path provided her with a strong foundation in finance and operations, she “wanted to get more into the strategic side of things.”

Prior to joining Stanford, Julie earned an accounting degree at Meredith College in Raleigh then worked as staff accountant for Duke Clinical Research Institute where she processed payments for the university’s clinical trials. Later, she gained grant experience at Duke Human Vaccine Institute and government finance experience at Wake County Human Services. She returned to the university to be a financial analyst with Duke Pediatrics and eventually advanced to a role in division operations management.