Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center Archives

by Shann Thomas

Dr. Stephaun E. Wallace already had a lengthy list of job titles: the director of external relations for Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’s (Fred Hutch) HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), faculty appointments at Fred Hutch and the University of Washington (UW), as a staff scientist and clinical assistant professor respectively, in addition to launching the inaugural Office of Community Engagement for the UW/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research.

After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, however, Wallace expanded his current job as director of external relations for HVTN to include the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN), which coordinated all major COVID-19 vaccine efficacy trials except Pfizer-BioNTech’s.

Wallace smiles, and says, “My mother and my team accuse me of … being a triplet; because they’re like ‘We don’t understand how one person can do all that you do and still … absorb as much information’ as I do, and have the mastery of having to categorize it and spit it back out without much concern or draw there.”

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by Sally James

In all the excitement over the new COVID-19 vaccines, it’s easy to forget that the disease will strike thousands of people before the pandemic is over and we still don’t have reliable treatments for the disease.

Physician Rachel Bender Ignacio wants to change that by conducting studies of four different treatment methods in Seattle — all of which are open to volunteers from the community. Bender’s team calls people who have tested positive and offers them information about the studies. It is essential that people sign up within four days of receiving a nasal swab to test for the virus.

Bender Ignacio spoke to the Emerald about the research taking place at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

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