Oscar Colegio, the Lawrence P. & Joan Castellani Family Endowed Chair in Dermatology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, died unexpectedly last weekend at a family residence in Connecticut. He was 47.
Colegio relocated to Buffalo when he was recruited to head Roswell Park’s dermatology program in 2018. He had previously served as associate professor of dermatology, pathology and surgery at Yale University.
“Our hearts are with Dr. Colegio’s family,” Roswell Park President and CEO Candace S. Johnson, said in a statement. “In only two years’ time, he became a dear friend, trusted physician and valued colleague to so many. He embraced his adoptive home of Buffalo and the Elmwood Village with warmth and friendship. Given who Oscar was personally and professionally, all that he accomplished and the passion with which he pursued his work, this loss leaves an enormous hole.”
A clinician and scientist with more than 20 years of experience, Colegio was president of the International Immunosuppression and Transplant Skin Cancer Collaborative, a professional society dedicated to understanding skin cancer in organ transplant recipients.
He specialized in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, melanoma, immunology, immunodeficiency-associated skin cancers and solid organ transplantation. Consistently named to the national Top Doctors list, he earned doctoral and medical degrees from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
Colegio is survived by his wife, Brenda, and two sons, Otto and Austin. A fund will be established in his name to support research on cancers of the skin. A gift in his memory may be designated to the fund here.
