As long time IndyCar medical director Dr. Geoffrey Billows announced his retirement at the end of the season, Dr. Julia Vaizer will make history and become the first female medical director of the American top-tier championship in 2023.
Dr. Julia Vaizer will be the first ever female medical director in IndyCar, as current crew chief Dr. Geoffrey Billows announced his retirement at the end of the season during the drivers' meeting in Toronto on Friday. Billows has undergone treatment for parotid salivary cancer since November 2020 and leaves the role to spend more time with his family, but is looking forward to helping in a part-time capacity after holding the position for nearly 30 years.
But Dr. Julia Vaizer is no newbie either: she has already spent the last year to assist Billows and is an assistant professor of clinical emergency medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine. She graduated from the University of Florida in 2011, earning her medical degree in 2016. In 2019, Vaizer had emergency residency training at Detroit Receiving Hospital and was the first graduate of the UI School of Medicine´s motorsport fellowship in July 2021.
She first joined IndyCar in 2018 during an elective training program at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and will write history as the first female medical director of the top-tier championship next season. Vaizer started to work in motorsport in 2017.
“Dr. Billows has been a friend, a mentor, a teacher and like family to me", she commented. "It’s a huge honor to be chosen to carry on his legacy. It fills me with inspiration. I know I will work really hard to continue doing what he established as one of the most successful medical teams in the world of motorsports."
"I cannot wait for the next chapter and see how we can continue to improve the field of motorsports medicine for the next generation to come.”
