April 3, 2025

Julie K. Freed, MD, PhD, IARS Board Member

As an anesthesia resident, identifying all the resources and professional organizations that can guide one’s career and research can be incredibly challenging. Without guidance, it can be almost impossible to figure out. Fortunately, for Julie K. Freed, MD, PhD, while completing her research track residency, Dr. Tom Ebert filled that role for her by introducing her to the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS). Through IARS and its Annual Meeting, Dr. Freed discovered a whole new world of other physician scientists in Anesthesiology. Here, she found her people and her research home, developing meaningful collaborators and lifelong friendships that would serve her well as a cardiac anesthesiologist and a translational researcher. Now Executive Vice Chair, Associate Professor, Director of the NIGMS T32 Program for the Department of Anesthesiology, Dr. Freed has found that these initial connections have grown since her first IARS Annual Meeting and helped her progress successfully as a physician-scientist and a leader. Being a part of this diverse IARS community of physician-scientists prompted Dr. Freed to further develop her relationship with the organization, presenting at multiple meetings, joining committees and eventually giving back to that initial research community by taking on the role of IARS Mentored Research Award (IMRA) Study Section Chair. Now, Dr. Freed is embarking on the next chapter in her long relationship with IARS by becoming one of its newest Board members. She will assume this new role on July 1 after completing her service as IMRA Study Section Chair. Her wealth of knowledge as an experienced physician-scientist, her passion for advancing the science of medicine and focus on developing the next generation will prove a major asset to all IARS endeavors in the future.

Dr. Freed reflected on what makes the IARS community so unique and welcoming for physician-scientists, “They’re in academics. They’re trying to be physician-scientists. They are going through the same struggles that I go through as a physician-scientist. We are all trying to balance the operating room or other clinical duties with trying to be successful as investigators- securing funding, getting published, mentoring trainees, all of it. It’s this group of people I’ve met through IARS. We’re friends. We’re close. We support each other. It’s really nice.”

When current IARS Board Member Max B. Kelz, MD, PhD, approached Dr. Freed to join the Board, she did not take the decision lightly. Reflecting on her long history with IARS, what it has done for her career, and leaders on the Board who she holds in great regard, she wanted to be sure she would meet the challenge of that important role. “I had a little imposter syndrome because I think so highly of them,” Dr. Freed shared. Reassured by Dr. Kelz and other board members that she absolutely had value to add to IARS, she was enthusiastic to accept the new vital role as a board member. “I’m thrilled to do it. I can’t wait to see how the board operates and what I can do to help,” she stated.

It is clear from her multiple leadership roles and passion projects that Dr. Freed excels at juggling multiple priorities successfully. Despite all the time she dedicates to mentoring the next generation of physician-scientists to ensure a bright future for the specialty, Dr. Freed also dedicates time to her research and translational research program. Her research focuses on exclusively on humans and manages both a wet lab that studies human blood vessels ex vivo as well as clinical trials. She manages the collection and distribution of fresh, otherwise discarded surgical specimens to translational cardiovascular researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin. “Once we have the tissue, we dissect out arterioles which are essentially small blood vessels and we study human microvascular function,” Dr. Freed shared. She also conducts clinical trials in humans to study the microvascular function in vivo.

Her current goal is to understand how microvessels respond to stress and more importantly, how to make these vessels stronger against stress. “We’re all exposed to various kinds of stress. It could be environmental stress, mental stress, the food we eat, the lack of sleep. We are constantly exposed to factors that cause vessel damage,” she explained. “And ultimately, that’s what causes disease. What we’re trying to accomplish long term is looking for innovative strategies to make these little blood vessels more resilient to that stress. Cardiovascular disease is critical to prevent and difficult to reverse. We are taking a proactive approach here.” Through her investigations, Dr. Freed hopes her research will reduce the overall burden of cardiovascular disease.

With this vital ambition in mind, one major goal as Dr. Freed approaches her new role as a Board Member is the anesthesia research pipeline and the future of academic anesthesia. Unfortunately, as the health care market shifts, fewer trainees are choosing to go into academic and research careers, and fewer individuals are pursuing fellowships. “We really have to be thoughtful and creative about how we’re going to get through the next couple of years,” Dr. Freed emphasized. “If I had to pick one major initiative, it would be securing the future of academic research and anesthesia.” Already, she has been making inroads towards that goal but with the help of the IARS and its Board, she hopes to accelerate that effort.

At the Medical College of Wisconsin, Dr. Freed has founded a mentoring initiative, the Clinical Mentoring Board or CLIMB program, which aims to create mentoring teams for early career investigators. Dr. Freed references the sobering statistic that only a third of individuals who apply for early career NIH awards (e.g. K awards) actually receive them. “What baffles me is that people try to do this sometimes on their own, or they have a mentor, but they hardly meet with them. Why would you even think about tackling this without the proper mentorship that you need in order to be successful?” Dr. Freed asked.

When talking to early-career scholars at MCW, Dr. Freed began to notice that many indicated they had a mentoring team but struggled to get everyone together. Recognizing this was not a sustainable path to becoming independent researchers, Dr. Freed and the Dean of Research determined they should bridge that gap and develop a structured mentoring program. Through this program, personnel effort is dedicated to assist in scheduling these critical mentoring sessions on a regular basis. Additionally, through this program, Dr. Freed has been able to convene a board of senior investigators, department chairs and others experienced in important administrative roles to guide and connect early-career scholars to the appropriate mentor. Over the two years that CLIMB has been in existence, its scope has continued to grow, creating a support system for physician-scientists.

Dr. Freed also looks for other resources to help the early-career physician-scientist succeed. In a conversation with her Dean, that additional contribution took the form of a podcast, Research Radio, where Dr. Freed offers an additional resource for early-career scholars to contemplate important topics for research and mentoring. Roughly once a month, she interviews an expert about a broad mentoring topic. “It could be how to be a resilient scientist, how to deal with feedback. We’ve had one on work-life balance. We’ve had one about the concept of mentoring. What you should expect from a mentor, what they expect of you,” she explained.

These two mentoring programs continue to offer positive results. Dr. Freed is encouraged when she sees the mentoring committees meeting regularly and hears from physician-scientists who just received a fundable score on a grant application. “It’s just wonderful to see this working and receiving a fundable score, well that’s the cherry on top,” she emphasized.

Watching the immense growth of a trainee from the initial day to their graduation brings Dr. Freed a great deal of career fulfillment and satisfaction. “By the time residents graduate, you realize ‘I would let them take care of me, my loved ones, my family, my friends,’ and seeing how they change, that is just so fulfilling to me. The same thing goes for trainees in the laboratory. Initially, you think yikes- this is going to take some time. And then before you know it, they are preparing for their next step and you’re thinking how’s the lab going to run without them,” she shared.

Determined to explore all avenues and outlets for ensuring a diverse and prosperous anesthesiology research specialty, Dr. Freed also serves as vice chair of the Anesthesia Research Council (ARC). Focused on advancing scientific discovery, policy and patient care through research collaboration, ARC was formed by IARS, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research. This initiative tackles the major issues faced within anesthesia research and explores collaborations that will prove important to the future of anesthesiology research and academic anesthesiology.

“There’s always going to be a push and pull between the operating room and running a lab. And then, of course, for physician scientists sometimes you get pulled into leadership positions and you’re trying to juggle three things. And at what point do you say no to some things? That’s just the struggle that we all face in academics,” Dr. Freed reflected. “It’s the most exhausting, frustrating yet fulfilling career one could have and I have no regrets in choosing this path.”

In her new role as an IARS Board Member, Dr. Freed is bound to continue to inspire, encourage and guide the next generation of physician-scientists towards a bright future for anesthesiology research and academic medicine.