October 24, 2017

The OHSU School of Medicine announces with great sadness that Douglas A. Weeks, M.D., professor and former chair of pathology, died Oct. 16 due to complications of familial hemochromatosis. He contributed to the clinical, research and educational missions of the school for nearly 20 years.

Dr. Weeks was known as an approachable leader with an open door policy, who genuinely cared for his colleagues. Because he was an excellent diagnostician who enjoyed teaching, residents and fellows would often bring cases to him for consultation. Dr. Weeks will be remembered by those who worked with him for his gentle and determined nature, sense of humor, and unparalleled kindness. Dr. Weeks enjoyed working in his garden, being an amateur astronomer (having traveled internationally to observe total solar eclipses and having, regretfully, donated his large backyard telescope to a museum prior to moving back to the Northwest), and spending time with his wife, Richelle Malott, M.D., assistant professor of pathology, OHSU School of Medicine, and their two daughters.

In 1999, Dr. Weeks joined OHSU as professor of pathology in the School of Medicine. He served as interim chair of the Department of Pathology from 2004 to 2007 before being appointed permanent chair in 2008. He held the role as leader of one of the school's 20 clinical departments and as a member of the OHSU Practice Plan Board of Directors until he stepped down in 2016. Prior to joining OHSU, Dr. Weeks held academic, clinical, and administrative roles in pathology at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine, serving as chair of pathology and human anatomy there from 1994 to 1996. Dr. Weeks earned his medical degree in 1974 and received postgraduate training in both internal medicine and obstetrics and gynecology at Loma Linda, prior to practicing family medicine. He returned to Loma Linda and completed his postgraduate training – in anatomic and clinical pathology – in 1980. He practiced community pathology in Roseburg, Ore., in the early 1980s and again in the late 1990s. He was an active member of Loma Linda's Alumni Association, serving as its president from 1995 to 1996.

Dr. Weeks' research and scholarly interests included pediatric renal pathology, electron microscopy, and tumor immunocytochemistry. He authored or co-authored more than 70 peer-reviewed, scientific publications and 29 abstracts. He was a senior author of the Handbook of Diagnostic Electron Microscopy for Pathologists-in-Training, published in 1996. In 1989, his illustration from an electron micrograph of an endometrial stromal sarcoma nucleus graced the cover of Pediatric Pathology.

During his career in academic medicine, Dr. Weeks won various teaching awards, including the Leadership Award from Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center and the Anatomic Pathology Resident Teaching Award at OHSU. He was an active member of numerous professional organizations, including the College of American Pathologists, the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, the Society for Pediatric Pathology, and the Society for Ultrastructural Pathology.

Donations in Dr. Weeks' memory may be made to the Oregon Food Bank or Portland Adventist Community Services.