David Aboulafia, MD

Dr. David Aboulafia is a hematologist/oncologist at Virginia Mason Clinic where he has been on staff since 1990, and has served as the Section Head in the department of Hematology/Oncology. His clinical focus involves benign and malignant hematology and primary and subspecialty HIV care. He has published over 250 articles in peer-reviewed journals that have focused on the medical care of patients he sees  in his clinical practice. He is a principal investigator of the National Cancer Institute-funded AIDS Malignancy Consortium and chair of the AMC outreach, education, recruitment, and retention committee. He is also a Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology at the University of Washington.

Since 1992, Dr. Aboulafia has been the Medical Director of Bailey-Boushay House in Seattle. Bailey-Boushay provides care to people with HIV disease, promoting their health, well-being, and functional independence. Its goal is to ensure that every person with HIV/AIDS in our community has equal access to positive outcomes. Bailey-Boushay emphasizes acceptance of all people, compassion, safety, and the dignity and autonomy of individuals. Dr. Aboulafia also serves on the University of Washington Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Committee, is Chair of the  Benaroya Research Institute Scientific Review Committee, and is a member of the HIV Medical Association and the International Association of Physicians for AIDS Care.


Dr. Aboulafia became a BTF board member after taking a trip to Nepal in 2020 and seeing first-hand the work of the Foundation
I was truly surprised and inspired by Dr. Shah and his wife Tara’s vision to build a cancer center in Janakpur. Equity in cancer care and respect for all people is a guiding principles in all that they do. I came away from that trip knowing I wanted to help make an impact in a larger way on the lives of people with cancer and this was a way to do so. Although small, the BTF has already accomplished goals that I had previously thought were unattainable. Their unwavering but practical vision, their humanitarian goals, and their ethics really resonate with me and have helped inform my vision of what is possible in cancer care on a global stage.