New Chief Teaching Officer Joins Children's and Emory

ATLANTA (August 18, 2026) – Rebecca Wallihan, MD, joins Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta as the new Chief Teaching Officer and joins Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, as Vice Chair of Education. In this role, she will provide strategic, enterprise-level leadership across Children’s and the Emory Department of Pediatrics to optimize the quality, reputation, and impact of graduate medical education (GME) and undergraduate medical education (UME) for trainees from partnering institutions. She will support the identification and development of clinical training opportunities for medical students, residents, and fellows, strengthening alignment across the continuum of training and advancing our shared priorities in educational excellence, innovation, and workforce development. As an experienced leader with more than a decade of graduate medical education leadership experience, she will strengthen alignment across the continuum of training and advance educational excellence, innovation and workforce development.

I am delighted Dr. Wallihan will join Children’s in this leadership role as we continue striving to train top physician talent within our network of hospitals and specialty care clinics,” said Jared Muenzer, MD, Chief Physician Executive, Children’s. “We are dedicated to maintaining a strategic and comprehensive physician training and education program for residents and fellows across our System and look forward to the leadership Dr. Wallihan will bring to continue this endeavor, ultimately advancing better care for our kids.

Prior to joining Children’s, Dr. Wallihan was with Nationwide Children’s Hospital and The Ohio State University College of Medicine where she served as the Pediatric Residency Program Director, Vice Chair of Education for Pediatrics and Professor of Pediatrics and Pediatric Infectious Diseases. In addition to her physician education roles at Children’s and Emory, Dr. Wallihan will apply her clinical expertise by working in infectious diseases, focusing on complex infections and antimicrobial stewardship.

Recently selected as an Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) fellow, Dr. Wallihan is an active member of several national-level professional organizations, including the Association of Pediatric Program Directors (APPD), Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the American Board of Pediatrics. She has a strong record of scholarly work, including more than 25 peer reviewed publications, contributions to leading textbooks and national presentations at APPD and Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) meetings. After earning her medical degree from the Indiana University School of Medicine in 2005, Dr. Wallihan completed a residency and fellowship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.