Rachel

Issaka

MD, MAS

Bio

Dr. Rachel Issaka is a Gastroenterologist, Assistant Professor, and the Kathryn Surace-Smith Endowed Chair in Health Equity Research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) and the University of Washington (UW). She is the Director of the FHCRC/UW Medicine Population Health Colorectal Cancer Screening Program. Dr. Issaka’s research focuses on decreasing colorectal cancer mortality through increased screening in medically underserved populations. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Dr. Issaka has contributed to national medical practice guidelines for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), and the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (NCCRT). In 2020 she was selected to serve on an expert panel advising the President’s Cancer Panel and the COVID-19 Prevention Network, a group formed to provide oversight for National Institutes of Health funded COVID-19 vaccine trials. Dr. Issaka completed her gastroenterology fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco where she also earned a master’s in clinical research. She completed her internal medicine residency at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where she served as chief resident and obtained her medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School.

HEALTH SYSTEMS-RELATED ACTIVITIES

Clinical Implementation

Leadership and Management

• Quality (e.g., medical director with focus on quality)
• Population Health

Policy

• National – Professional Society: American Gastroenterological Association

Quality Improvement and Patient Safety

• Focus Area: Colorectal Cancer
• Care Setting: Primary Care Clinics
• Type of QI Work: Implementing Evidence-Based Interventions

Research

• Outcomes
• Health Services
• Pragmatic Trials
• Implementation
• Population Health
• Social Drivers of Health/Social Determinants of Health