Oregon Health & Science University gave a prominent researcher and member of the medical school leadership team a large bonus even as top officials knew multiple women had accused him of secretly photographing them in class.
An OHSU spokesperson confirmed Friday that Dr. Daniel Marks received $46,234.12 on Oct. 13 as part of the President’s Recognition Award.
By then, three women students had complained about Marks, records show. Marks, meanwhile, agreed to modest work restrictions for most of last year, such as not having “electronic devices” at any meetings. The university allowed him to continue leading his federally funded research lab.
According to a message OHSU sent to employees last fall, the bonuses represented a one-time payment to eligible employees and that “leaders from across OHSU” had “reviewed and verified the award levels for each person in their area.”
“At OHSU, our people are our No. 1 priority and what makes us special,” the message said.
It is unclear which OHSU School of Medicine executive approved a bonus for Marks. A spokesperson for OHSU did not respond to an email asking to identify the manager.
Marks answered to Dr. David Jacoby, dean of the School of Medicine.
Seven days after Marks received the bonus, an aide to Jacoby sent an email to OHSU staff announcing, without explanation, Marks’ resignation. The email stated that Marks would resign effective Nov. 3.
Marks, a pediatric endocrinologist, served as senior associate dean for research and professor of pediatrics. He worked at OHSU for nearly 26 years and was a principal investigator on two multi-year federal research grants.
He was paid a salary of $467,015, according to OHSU.
The allegations against Marks were included in a federal document obtained earlier this week by The Oregonian/OregonLive. OHSU released the letter from the National Institutes of Health in response to a public records request from the news organization.
Marks resigned after OHSU found he had “surreptitiously, and without consent” photographed women students during a required class known as the Journal Club, according to the National Institutes of Health letter. On Nov. 1, OHSU officials reported the findings to the agency under federal rules involving research grants.
The university’s Office of Civil Rights Investigation and Compliance ultimately concluded that Marks took the photos during two July 2022 classes, according to the letter.
“Prior to charges of termination being issued, Dr. Marks submitted his resignation,” the letter noted.
Though the document didn’t elaborate on the nature of the images, two OHSU sources with direct knowledge of the matter said Marks took at least one photograph under a table of women who were wearing skirts and dresses. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.
The women were part of the OHSU School of Medicine M.D./Ph.D. program. Marks served as the program’s liaison to the dean.
On Friday, OHSU released additional records that filled in the timeline of the complaints against Marks.
Dr. Peter G. Barr-Gillespie, OHSU’s chief research officer and executive vice president, told the National Institutes of Health in a follow-up letter last month that a student originally complained in November 2022 about Marks’ “phone and camera app use” during a meeting the previous July of the Journal Club.
An internal investigator met with the woman in January 2023, according to Barr-Gillespie’s letter. The student “did not want Dr. Marks to have a continued role in her program,” Barr-Gillespie wrote.
Later that month, the investigator met with Marks to “review the concerns that had been reported,” according to Barr-Gillespie.
Marks offered not to attend the Journal Club meetings going forward and said he would also agree to “not use electronic devices during meetings generally,” Barr-Gillespie wrote.
University officials considered the matter closed because the student had not filed a “formal complaint or requested an investigation” and because Marks agreed to “preventative measures,” according to Barr-Gillespie.
The investigator’s meeting with Marks was “considered an educational conversation and not disciplinary,” Barr-Gillespie wrote in his letter.
Then in March 2023, two more women came forward with similar complaints about the Journal Club meetings the previous July and asked for a formal investigation, according to the letter.
The university told Marks not to have contact with the women.
Barr-Gillespie told the National Institutes of Health that the university allowed Marks to continue with his federally funded research since “there were no complaints or concerns from the employees or students in any other forum, including in his laboratory or research groups.”
OHSU officials “checked in” with students in Marks’ lab to “ensure that they did not have any complaints about Dr. Marks and that they had a forum for raising any concerns,” Barr-Gillespie wrote.
It is unclear when the investigation into Marks concluded. OHSU officials on Friday declined to say.
The revelation about Marks comes two years after an inquiry by former Attorney General Eric Holder’s law firm found that OHSU lacks clear policies on handling, documenting and investigating misconduct by its employees, leading to inconsistent discipline and a lack of trust among staff and students.
Marks now works as chief medical officer of an Illinois-based pharmaceutical company, Endevica. It is unclear whether Endevica executives were aware of the circumstances surrounding Marks’ departure; they did not respond to emails from The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Marks also could not be reached for comment Friday.
This week, OHSU sent a message to employees alerting them to The Oregonian/OregonLive’s reporting on the circumstances of Marks’ departure, saying, “OHSU’s employee confidentiality practices prevent us from commenting on personnel matters” and that it “can be distressing when internal matters are reported by the news media.”
Dr. Richard Goodman, a senior scientist at OHSU, said the message was inadequate. He questioned why it took so long for the university to act.
He called the allegations “such a betrayal of trust” in an email he sent to Jacoby, the medical school dean, on Friday. He shared the message with The Oregonian/OregonLive.
He said Jacoby, as Marks’ boss, owes the medical school community “a heartfelt apology.”
“The Marks incident is so concerning because it involves your office,” Goodman told the dean.
