The dean of Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine resigned one day after the university's president called for his removal after allegations about a physician taking photos of female students in class.
Danny Jacobs, MD, president of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, requested on Feb. 20 that David Jacoby, MD, resign as dean of the university's medical school, according to sources familiar with the matter reported by The Oregonian and an internal email obtained by Willamette Week.
Dr. Jacobs' call arrived amid an investigation into the actions of OHSU leaders in response to allegations raised against Dan Marks, MD, a physician who co-instructed a class with and was supervised by Dr. Jacoby. Dr. Marks resigned in January after an internal investigation found he covertly photographed female students during class on at least two occasions in 2022.
Three weeks ago, Dr. Jacoby distributed a seven-page letter to some personnel explaining his role in the alleged incident. He noted he was first to learn of it and expressed regret that he should have acted more quickly and figured out sooner that the photos were "sexually harassing in nature," Willamette Week reported Jan. 29.
In the email distributed to OHSU staff Feb. 21, Dr. Jacobs said he asked Dr. Jacoby to step down because his "choices over the past several weeks have undermined a confidential process that OHSU, with our Office of Civil Rights Investigations and Compliance, is devoted and dedicated to building and enhancing, and I have lost confidence in his leadership," Willamette Week reported.
The move occurs before a lawyer hired to review OHSU's response to the incident has finished his probe. Dr. Jacobs wrote that the choice to remove Dr. Jacoby, who will continue as a faculty member, "is based on reasons unrelated to the ongoing review of the Marks situation."
OHSU, Dr. Jacoby and his lawyer declined to comment to The Oregonian. Becker's will update this story as more information is made available.
Dr. Jacoby took on the post as dean of the medical school in 2022 after serving in an interim capacity in 2021.
Dr. Jacoby was previously a member of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins for 13 years. He was recruited to OHSU as chief of pulmonary and critical care in 2003 and began chairing the university's department of medicine in 2018.