Julia Paxson is an Associate Professor of Biology at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. She grew up in London, England, but moved to the United States to attend Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where she graduated with undergraduate degrees in biochemistry and mathematics. She graduated from Yale University with a PhD in Developmental Biology, and from Tufts University with a DVM in veterinary medicine. She has taught developmental biology at the College of the Holy Cross for the last eight years. In addition, Julia runs a federally-funded research lab that explores conserved themes in stem cell aging in diverse animal systems, including dogs and acoel worms. She is currently president of the Veterinary Comparative Respiratory Society and a member of the Society of Developmental Biology.