Rachel

Bender Ignacio

MD

MPH

FIDSA

related links

bio

Dr. Bender Ignacio is a physician scientist focused on HIV clinical trials, clinical epidemiology, and translational research.  

As Director of UW Positive Research, a DAIDS-affiliated clinical research site, she is oversees more than 15 ongoing interventional studies for people with HIV, including studies focused on novel HIV therapeutics, HIV remission studies, and studies on metabolic effects of HIV and HIV-associated co-infections through the AIDS Clinical Trials Group.  UW Positive research also conducts other NIH and sponsored research, including newer partnerships with NIDA and the Cancer Immunotherapy Trials Network, to conduct studies on substance use disorders and HIV-associated cancers, respectively.  UW Positive Research is participating in the NIH's ACTIV-2 study on COVID-19 therapeutics from 2020-2023 and in the STOMP Study of Tecovirimat for human Monkey Pox study since 2022.  The research site also hosts the CHARTER study on neurocognition in HIV as well as other observational clinical studies. 

In her role with the ACTG, Dr. Bender Ignacio serves as co-chair of two arms of the ACTIV-2 platform study and as vice-chair of the HAT-COVID study. She has been a member of the Comorbidities Transformative Science Group and the Antiretroviral Strategy TSG.  She also serves as protocol co-chair of an HIV-associated cancer protocol within the AIDS Malignancy Consortium and is part of the U54 ULACNET Collaboracion Evita on HPV/HIV (NCI). 

As Medical Director of the Fred Hutch's COVID-19 Clinical Research Center, she has overseen the conduct of several trailblazing COVID-19 therapeutic studies and has helped set the local and national COVID-19 research agenda.

In addition to clinical trials, Dr. Bender Ignacio's molecular and clinical epidemiology focuses on immune activation in HIV, co-infections, and HIV-associated cancers.  Her work partners with investigators in Peru, Brazil, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and South Africa, including translational and implementation science around improving care to people with concurrent HIV and cancer in resource-constrained settings. 

research interests

• HIV therapeutics
• HIV co-infections
• Cancers in people with HIV and treatment for HIV among persons with HIV and cancer
• COVID-19 in people with HIV
• Immune responses to viral infections
• Molecular and clinical epidemiology
• Implementation science
• Mentoring, especially peer-mentoring with international collaborators

clinical interests

• Providing comprehensive primary care to people with HIV
• HIV-associated cancer
• Infectious Diseases in Solid Organ Transplant
• General Infectious Disease

education & training

MD in Global Health, University of Washington, School of Medicine, Seattle WA (2004-2008)

MPH in Epidemiology, University of Washington, School of Public Health, Seattle WA (2013-2014)

Residency in Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA (2009-2011)

Fellowship in Infectious Diseases, University of Washington, Seattle WA (2012-2015)

honors

Yale Johnson & Johnson Fellowship Recipient (2011)

Winickoff Fellowship for Research in Primary Care, Massachusetts General Hospital (2011)

CROI Young Investigator Award (2015)

CFAR New Investigator Award (2018)

Outstanding Research Mentor of 2019, University of Washington School of Medicine (2019)

UW Global Innovation Fund Award (2019)

Chair of Medicine Award, UW Department of Medicine (2020)

publications