Doctor Julia Hoffman was a general practitioner specializing in the field of hematology and alternative medicine.

In June of that year, Julia was forced to bring her medical expertise to the Collins family service.

Julia later discovered that Barnabas Collins failed to cast a reflection in the mirror of her compact. The following evening, Julia went to Barnabas' abode at the Old House. She told him that she knew that he was a vampire, and further that she could possibly cure him. Barnabas was naturally skeptical and regarded Julia as a threat to his existence. However, she convinced him that through careful analysis of Daphne and Carolyn's blood samples, she could isolate and destroy the viral vampire cell. Julia prepared a serum and administered a series of injections to Barnabas over the course of several evenings.

Miraculously it worked. Barnabas' blood-cravings began to subside and in a matter of days, he gained the ability to walk in the daylight for the first time in almost two hundred years. He still had a long way to go however, and Barnabas began to grow impatient. He wanted to rush the process along so that he could continue with his plans to court the Collins family governess, Maggie Evans. This revelation devastated Julia. She had fallen in love with Barnabas and hearing him pine after Maggie Evans was more than Julia could bear to hear. She deliberately sabotaged her serum and gave Barnabas his final injection. The altered serum had a traumatic effect on Barnabas' physiology. He began rapidly aging until he was little more than a gruesome, bald old man. He lunged at Julia screaming in a raspy voice, "You betrayed me!" Grabbing her by the throat, he strangled Julia until she fell over, dead.