Doctor Oscar Rene Colegio

Doctor Oscar Rene Colegio Colegio, Doctor Oscar Rene, PhD, the Lawrence P. & Joan Castellani Family Endowed Chair in Dermatology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, entered eternal peace and went to be with our Lord the weekend of June 13th. He was 47. He was beloved and respected by his family, friends, and colleagues for a life defined by adventure, kayaking, embrace of life, exploration, and love for his two sons and family. Dr. Colegio specialized in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma and melanoma skin diseases in transplant recipients. As a native Texan from McAllen, Dr. Colegio graduated from The University of Texas where he earned a BS in Pharmacy in 1995. He graduated from Yale University where he earned a Ph.D. in Cell Biology in 2003, and an M.D. in 2004, coupled with an election to Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. Dr. Colegio completed an Internship in Internal Medicine and a Residency in Dermatology at Yale-New Haven Hospital. In 2015, Dr. Colegio received the Young Physician-Scientist Award by the American Society for Clinical Investigation and later, the 2017 Young Investigator Award by the American Academy of Dermatology. Dr. Colegio served as Associate Professor of Dermatology, Pathology and Surgery at Yale University, presenting his research on behalf of Yale University across the nation and around the world. Dr. Colegio served as the president-elect of the International Transplant Skin Cancer Collaborative, the largest international organization dedicated to studying and treating skin diseases that develop after solid organ transplantation. Dr. Colegio relocated to Buffalo from New Haven, Connecticut when he was recruited to head the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center dermatology program in 2018. At the Buffalo-based cancer center, Dr. Colegio’s clinical practice and research focused on immunodeficiency-associated skin cancers and skin disorders associated with solid organ transplantation. During this time, he also led research centered on defining the role of immune cells called macrophages in tumor progression. Dr. Colegio is survived by his sons Austin and Otto Colegio, and wife, Brenda Banuelos of Connecticut. His parents, Leonardo and Rosalina Colegio of McAllen, his brother, Dr. Leo Colegio (Veronica), of Austin, his sister, Anna McNair (Alexander) and their children Andrew, Anthony and Aaron also survive Dr. Oscar Rene Colegio. Following CDC guidelines for Covid, masks are required at all times in the church and within the Dioceses of Brownsville. Services will be held at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in McAllen. Visitation will begin at 9:00 a.m. followed by Mass at 10:00 a.m. A private family burial will follow. 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 this fund at RoswellPark.org/giving.

Tributes

Doctor Oscar Rene Colegio

June 13, 2020