Hugo Rosen, MD, who was chair of the Department of Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, died Dec. 28. He was 58.

“We are saddened by the loss of Dr. Hugo Rosen,” said Steven D. Shapiro, MD, senior vice president for health affairs and interim dean of the Keck School. “Dr. Rosen was a cherished colleague and friend to many in our community. While he was recognized academically for his research on the liver, he also was known for his dedication as an educator and mentor.”

A nationally and internationally renowned physician-scientist, Rosen joined the Keck School in May 2018 as chair of the Department of Medicine from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, where he was chief of gastroenterology and hepatology and professor of medicine and immunology. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Miami before completing his residency at Beth-Israel Deaconess Hospital and fellowship training at UCLA. He was appointed to his first faculty position at the Oregon Health Sciences University.

Rosen was widely recognized for his research on the liver, investigating cellular and molecular underpinnings of a wide spectrum of innate and adaptive immune responses and developing novel paradigms in liver diseases. He became the program director for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Liver Center, where he successfully secured two new NIH grants as the primary investigator.

During his time at the Keck School, Rosen recruited more than 135 faculty, including division chiefs and leaders within gastrointestinal/hepatology, critical care, cell therapy, and heart failure and transplantation. Together, these interdisciplinary scientists brought more than $12 million in federal research funding to USC.

Rosen had a passion for training, mentoring and supporting physicians and researchers. He created three new vice chair of medicine positions: diversity, equity and inclusion, quality and safety, and translational medicine. He developed centralized services for biostatistics, bioinformatics and biorepository for faculty and trainees. He also championed the development of the Academy of Medical Educators, a 12-month training program that pairs seasoned faculty with new faculty recruits. The “Med-Check” program — a new program that provides faculty with free, off-site, psychological support from a clinical psychologist — also was introduced under Rosen’s leadership.

Rosen is survived by his wife Bonnie, children Rachel, Nicholas and Leah, and sisters Myra and Daisy.

In lieu of flowers, the Rosen family has requested gifts be directed to the USC Hugo Rosen MD Legacy Fund. For more information, please visit https://ignite.usc.edu/project/29786.