Dr. Hendrickson was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Mill Valley, California. She graduated from Brown University in 1983 with Honors in Environmental Science, and served with the Peace Corps in Ecuador. After a career as an environmental planner in New England and Seattle, and after having three children, she returned to school to pursue a career in pediatrics. She attended the University of Nevada School of Medicine, where she was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha and graduated with honors in 2004. She then completed her pediatrics residency in 2007 at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where she received the Vice Chancellor's Housestaff Award, Academic Achievement Award for Pediatrics, Resident Leadership Award, and awards for Excellence in Pediatric Critical Care and in Pediatric Emergency Medicine.

Dr. Hendrickson joined Northern Nevada Pediatrics in July 2007 and was board certified in October 2007. She has published academic papers on pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and on a rare inherited liver disease that causes bleeding problems in affected children. She is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Nevada School of Medicine.

Dr. Hendrickson has written a book, titled The Air They Breathe, about the impact of climate change on children's health. It will be published by Simon & Schuster on July 2, 2024.

Dr. Hendrickson has three adult children and, as of 2024, a new granddaughter.