Former Alliance resident delivers keynote address for UNMC graduate students

A former Alliance resident, Colin Weekes, M.D., Ph.D., delivered the keynote address on Dec. 12 at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Honors Convocation for Graduate Studies.
 
A 1988 graduate of Alliance High School, Dr. Weekes is the son of Joseph and Margaret Weekes, who are retired and still reside in Alliance. Joseph Weekes was an electrician for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, while Margaret Weekes was a nursing instructor at Western Nebraska Community College.
 
For the past 18 months, Dr. Weekes has served on the faculty at Harvard Medical School in Boston as an associate professor of medicine in the division of hematology/oncology. He also serves as director for medical oncology research for pancreatic cancer in the Tucker Gosnell Center for Gastrointestinal Cancers at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
 
In his address, Dr. Weekes looked back on his time at UNMC as a student and told the graduates that there were two key attributes that helped him succeed – heterogeneity (being exposed to a diverse number of things) and fidelity (being faithful).
 
“Dr. Weekes delivered a compelling speech to our graduate students,” said Dele Davies, M.D., UNMC’s dean of graduate studies and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs. “Having earned two graduate degrees at UNMC, he’s a perfect example of how a graduate degree at UNMC can open the door to success. He has had a remarkable career, and we are honored to call him one of our alums.”
 
Dr. Weekes earned his doctoral degree from UNMC in 1998 and his medical degree in 2000 from UNMC. His graduate training was in cell biology and focused on lymphoma cell chemotherapy resistance. 
 
Following completion of medical school, he completed an internal medicine residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He then went to Johns Hopkins Hospital for his medical oncology fellowship, which focused on translational research in the development of novel therapies for pancreatic cancer.
 
Prior to his present position at Harvard Medical/Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Weekes served on the faculty at the University of Colorado School of Medicine – Anschutz Medical Campus in Denver in the division of medical oncology. He is an active member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
 
Dr. Weekes’ primary focus is on clinical and translational research in patients with pancreatic cancer. The goal of his research group is to incorporate biologic principles into the treatment of patients with pancreatic cancer. He works with basic scientists to integrate targeted therapies and biomarkers of disease response into clinical trial development.
 
In addition to his work in pancreas cancer, Dr. Weekes focuses on early drug development for gastrointestinal malignancies. His clinical interests include pancreatic cancer, colon and rectal cancer, as well as liver cancers, including cholangiocarcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. He treats patients with a variety of cancer types, including colorectal, esophageal, gallbladder, gastrointestinal, liver and stomach.
 
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