IndyCar makes Dr. Julia Vaizer 1st female medical director

Dr. Julia Vaizer, an an assistant professor of clinical emergency medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine, will become the first female medical chief for IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway when she takes over next season.

Vaizer has spent the past year assisting Dr. Geoffrey Billows, the series' longtime medical director, who announced during the driver's meeting for Sunday's race in Toronto that he will be stepping down.

Billows has been undergoing treatment for parotid salivary cancer since November 2020 and wants to spend more time with his family. He plans to help Vaizer in a part-time capacity as he continues treatment.

Vaizer graduated from the University of Florida in 2011 and earned her medical degree from the University of Central Florida in 2016. She did emergency residency training at Detroit Receiving Hospital in 2019 and became the first graduate of the IU School of Medicine's motorsports fellowship in July 2021.

She began her work with IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2018 during an elective training program.

Billow began his career at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during his residency in 1993, when he would volunteer at the IU Health Emergency Medical Center in the infield during race weeks. He later served as an IndyCar team physician and rose to the speedway's medical director in 2006; he added the job of IndyCar's medical director in 2016.

All the while, Billows has served as an assistant professor of clinical emergency medicine at the IU School of Medicine.

"It's no secret the last 20 months have been quite challenging for me," he said. "I thought, `I should enjoy whatever time I have left.' But I'm staying on so I can help part time because I enjoy it so much. The