Julie A. Freischlag, MD, FACS, FRCSEd(Hon), DFSVS, MAMSE 
Ambassador and Leadership Advisor, Advocate Health
Julie A. Freischlag, MD, FACS, FRCSEd(Hon), DFSVS, MAMSE retired as chief executive officer and chief academic officer of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, chief academic officer and executive vice president of Advocate Health, and executive vice president for health affairs at Wake Forest University.  As Ambassador and Leadership Advisor, Freischlag serves as an external-facing representative and internal leadership advisor, leveraging national and international roles to advance Advocate Health’s academic mission and strategic priorities.

As chief academic officer, Freischlag oversaw research and discovery for the entire Advocate Health system, including all educational and research programs at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Atrium Health Cabarrus College of Health Sciences and Atrium Health Carolinas College of Health Sciences. 

Freischlag joined Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist in 2017 and served as CEO until December 31, 2025. As CEO, she had overall responsibility for the health system’s clinical, academic and innovation enterprises and its annual operating budget of more than $5 billion.

Freischlag is the immediate past dean of Wake Forest University School of Medicine and previously was vice chancellor for Human Health Sciences and dean of the School of Medicine at UC Davis. For more than 15 years, she led education and training programs at top medical schools as professor and chair of surgery and vascular surgery departments. Freischlag also has more than 30 years of experience leading patient care services as chief of surgery or vascular surgery at nationally ranked hospitals, including Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.

A vascular surgeon, Freischlag specializes in the treatment of thoracic outlet syndrome. She has received numerous awards, including the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Vascular Surgery, the Association for Academic Surgery Pillar of Academic Surgery Award, an achievement award from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Trailblazer Award from the Society of University Surgeons, the Transformational Leadership Award from the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine, and the Vascular Surgery Medal from the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. She was also named by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of 95 Academic Medical Center CEOs to Know.  She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the Academy of Master Surgeon Educators.

Freischlag has held several national leadership roles, including serving as the 2021-2022 President of the American College of Surgeons, and is currently the immediate past chair of the Association for American Medical Colleges Board of Directors.  She currently serves on the National Institute of Health Clinical Center Research Hospital Board, Aga Khan University Board of Trustees and chair of the Health Services Committee, IRCAD North America Executive Board, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Wake Forest University School of Professional Studies, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Scientific Advisory Board, and the University of Illinois Health Advisory Council.