Seattle Reign FC Legend: Dr. Rachel Issaka – Gastroenterologist, Professor and Researcher

The Legends Campaign, a partnership between Seattle Reign FC and Starbucks, honors women for their extraordinary contributions to our community in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Prior to Seattle Reign FC’s match against Urawa, the club recognized Dr. Rachel Issaka, gastroenterologist, professor and researcher at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center & the University of Washington.

As a first-generation college student, the trajectory of Dr. Issaka’s career was largely shaped by the experiences she had growing up and as a medical resident in Chicago, where she observed two different clinics – one in Downtown Chicago with predominantly White, affluent patients and another on the South Side of Chicago with predominately Black and Latino patients.

“There were major differences in how patients in those clinics received my recommendation to complete colon cancer screening, and colon cancer is one of the most preventable cancers.”

Dr. Issaka shared, “In my Downtown clinic, patients would uniformly accept the recommendation and go on to complete screening to prevent colon cancer, whereas my second clinic on the South Side, they would be quite hesitant to accept that recommendation, and then oftentimes would not actually complete screening.”

This pattern caught the attention of Dr. Issaka and she was immediately interested in looking more into why this was happening. She set out to better understand why people don't engage in care, what those barriers are and how to meet patients where they are to help address those challenges, so that they can live their best and healthiest lives.

“We know that there are disparities in cancer survival across many populations including those two groups, and that's really fueled the work that I do today.” She continued, "At the core of all the work that we do, we really want to make sure that everybody has the best access to healthcare. We do that by making sure that people have access to screening and the follow-up care that they need and any other resources that they or their relatives might need along their cancer care journey.”

In her role, Dr. Issaka’s day-to-day work never looks quite the same. As a gastroenterologist, she is on the front lines, seeing patients and helping them navigate through their symptoms and treatment. Other days, she’s in the office doing research, reading scientific journals, writing grants, analyzing data, and also acting as the Director of a Colon Cancer Screening Program for healthcare systems in our region.

“We built the screening program from the ground up and it took a lot of partnerships within Fred Hutch and UW Medicine and also working with community to build a program that they felt worked for them. So, to see this program, three or four years later, become the top performing colon cancer screening program in the state of Washington for two years in a row, it's really quite gratifying.”

The most rewarding part of her work comes from working with patients directly and helping them on the path to recovery.

“Certainly, it’s rewarding to see patients in clinic and being able to help somebody overcome a digestive disorder or condition that they were having and seeing them going from having severe symptoms to feeling much better. That's always such a great feeling to know that you've had that impact.”

In her role, Dr. Issaka also has the opportunity to work with trainees – the next generation of researchers and gastroenterologists

"Just because you don't see yourself in that space, that should not discourage you from pursuing something that you really want to do. Persist! In medicine, most physicians are men. And in gastroenterology, this is the case as well. So certainly, I think for young girls, if there is an opportunity to find somebody who they see themselves in to shadow, they should absolutely go for it. But if that person doesn't exist, then find the person who is really interested in mentoring. Find any point of connection to keep moving forward.”

A stalwart in her sector of the Seattle community, Dr. Issaka is honored to be named a Reign FC and Starbucks Legend.

“When I think about the Reign, obviously this is an incredible soccer team in the city, but I'm also quite amazed by their contributions to the city. I think about their impact on and off the field and to me, what it means to be honored is that the Reign sees that in me as well.  They see my contributions within the clinic, but also my contributions within the community, and I think that has to be one of the greatest honors I've received to date.”

To conclude, Dr. Issaka encouraged fans to stay educated on colon cancer and schedule a screening.

“I would be remiss if I did not talk about colon cancer. I want everyone to know that if you have a colon, you could be at risk for colon cancer, but there are things that we can do to reduce our risk. The number one thing, if you are otherwise healthy and age 45 and above, get screened for colon cancer! I encourage everyone to please talk to their physician or healthcare team and come up with a plan for how to complete screening. Again, nobody should have to die from this preventable disease, and screening is one of the most powerful tools that we have to prevent colon cancer.”