IRCAD North America: The Basics

Professor of Surgery Chief, Transplant Oncology, Atrium Health-Carolinas Medical Center, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Executive Director, IRCAD North America

After completing his surgical residency at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, Dr. Vrochides continued his training with his fellowship in Transplant and HPB Surgery at McGill University in Montreal, QC. Ever since his graduation in 2007, he has been serving in multiple academic and clinical leadership positions. Currently, he is a Professor of Surgery and holds the position of Chief of Transplant Oncology at Atrium Health-Carolinas Medical Center, Wake Forest University School of Medicine.  In addition, he serves as the Executive Director of IRCAD North America.  

From a clinical standpoint, he practices all aspects of Transplant Oncology, including expansion of liver transplant oncologic indications, auto-transplantations, and immunology-oncology interaction. In addition, he focuses on hepatic remnant augmentation techniques, complex hepatic vascular resections, robotic hepatectomy and pancreatectomy, most of them in the setting of liver, pancreas, and biliary malignancies. In association with his clinical work, he has been serving as mentor to the residency and fellowship programs at Atrium Health. 

Dr Vrochides’ initial research concentrations were on transplantation-related bench research (growth factors, hepatic extracellular matrix composition) and translational research (hepatic transection devices) that generated many IP protected contributions. Later in his research career, he focused on the elimination of variation in perioperative care pathways, optimization of perioperative care by utilization of advanced surgical analytics (various forms of AI), automated systems of tracking operative dexterity, and development and application of organ perfusion/preservation platforms. All of these projects were supported by various levels of intra- and extramural funding. His overall research contributions have resulted in over 200 peer- reviewed publications.

IRCAD North America

Chief Academic Officer and Executive Vice President, Advocate Health 
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Academic Officer, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist 
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, Wake Forest University 

Julie A. Freischlag, MD, FACS, FRCSEd(Hon), DFSVS, MAMSE, retired in 2025 as Chief Academic Officer and Executive Vice President of Advocate Health, CEO and Chief Academic Officer of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, and Executive Vice President for Health Affairs at Wake Forest University. Now an Ambassador for Advocate Health, she leads advisory, professional development and fundraising initiatives to advance medical education and improve health. Freischlag serves on the executive board at IRCAD North America and holds leadership roles in national and international organizations, including the AAMC, American College of Surgeons, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Aga Khan Board of Trustees and the Wake Forest University School of Professional Studies. In her previous roles, she oversaw research and education across Advocate Health and led all clinical, academic and innovation programs at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. A nationally recognized vascular surgeon specializing in thoracic outlet syndrome, Freischlag has more than 30 years of clinical experience and over 15 years of surgical education leadership, previously serving as professor and chair of surgery at Johns Hopkins and other leading academic medicine institutions nationwide.

Enterprise Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation and Commercialization Officer, Advocate Health

Dr Shrestha is responsible for Advocate Health’s enterprise innovation portfolio, including strategic industry partnerships, its Innovation Districts, and its strategic investment fund. He also spearheads a renewed focus on commercialization, launching new healthcare inventions, discoveries and ideas to benefit all patients and communities. 

Dr Shrestha has nearly 30 years of industry experience as a transformative physician leader experienced in delivering results across strategy, innovation, health information technology, marketing, communications, strategic investments and commercialization. He joined Atrium Health in January 2019 as EVP and Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer, leading the strategic transformation of the organization and was charged with the creation and implementation of IMPACT 2025. Dr Shrestha was previously with UPMC where he led the payor-provider organization’s innovation and strategy, and helped build the industry’s largest and most successful health system innovation, commercialization and venture engine. Dr. Shrestha also serves on the Boards of a number of transformative companies.