Julie is a self-confessed ‘critical optimist’. She believes that things really can get better, but only if we are willing to critically explore and learn from what has gone before; we are not going to make progress by glossing over the challenges we face. Julie’s willingness to tackle such challenges has driven her interest in improvement science, asking ‘how can we achieve improvements in complex systems?’ and ‘how can we increase the value of science to society’? Grounded in her lived experiences of leading a multi-million pound research and improvement programme, along with her international research and consultancy, Julie brings a unique, honest and insightful perspective to the major challenges of improving healthcare. Julie started working in healthcare in 2006, following completion of her PhD in chemistry. In 2008 Julie co-founded an innovative hybrid research-practice organisation (the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) for Northwest London, UK). The CLAHRC programme ran until 2019, and conducted over 60 evidence-translation and improvement projects, engaging over 2000 healthcare staff, researchers, and patient leaders, and publishing a wealth of theoretical and practical insights.  In 2020 Julie founded her own consultancy company, and was appointed as Visiting Professor at Halmstad University in Sweden. She is currently writing a series of books that capture her insights and experiences.