Dr. Haigwood earned her B.S. with Honors in Zoology and her Ph.D. in molecular biology and immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in virology at The Johns Hopkins University, after which she spent 17 years in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector. Her laboratory was at Chiron Corporation (Novartis) in Emeryville, California, and at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute in Seattle, Washington.  From 1994-2007, she was a Professor of Microbiology and Pathobiology at the University of Washington and Member at SBRI (now Seattle Children’s). Since 1986, her research has been primarily on HIV and AIDS in nonhuman primate models, with a focus on vaccine discovery and the use of HIV neutralizing antibodies to treat infants exposed to HIV. This research was pivotal in establishing the value of passive antibody therapy to treat and clear HIV infection in infants exposed at birth or by breastfeeding, and this therapy is currently showing great promise in clinical testing. She was recruited to OHSU in 2007 to become the fifth director of the Oregon National Primate Research Center (2002-2022) and a Professor of Pathobiology & Immunology, where she has led a highly funded research program until her planned retirement as Professor Emerita in April 2026. In recognition of her scientific achievements, she was elected to the American Academy of Microbiology in 2014. Dr. Haigwood served for many years on councils and review panels at the National Institutes of Health as a volunteer board member for the Cascade AIDS Project and for ARCS Oregon. She is an advocate for science education and outreach to the public and serves as the steering committee chair for the U.S. Animal Research Openness Initiative. She currently chairs the Scientific Review Committee for the Medical Research Foundation and serves on the OHSU Foundation Board.