Dr. Peter Mugisha Sebishimbo

The tragic, sudden and far too early death of our esteemed colleague Dr. Peter Mugisha from Mbarara/Uganda, who succumbed on 7 September 2020 to acute pneumonia as a result of a COVID-19 infection, caused deep dismay and grief among all members of our society who knew him and had the good fortune to work with him.

Peter Mugisha was born in Kampala in 1982, the son of Prof. G.S. Bimenya and Mrs. Irene Bimenya. After finishing school in 2001, he studied medicine at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) and in 2009 began his residency in dermatology at the university’s Skin Clinic (Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital).

In 2012 a scholarship from the German Dermatological Society enabled him to complete 6 months of his training at the University Dermatology Clinic in Jena, after he had first attended a German course at the Goethe-Institut. Thanks to his cheerful, humorous and courteous manner, Peter quickly became very popular with his German colleagues. His time in Germany had a lasting influence on him, not only with regard to his professional training but also through the experience of a different way of life and culture. Even after his return to Uganda he kept up his contacts with Germany.

Particularly fruitful was his scientific collaboration with Prof. Dr. Pietro Nenoff, who came to Mbarara several times and with whom Peter wrote numerous publications, especially on dermatomycoses, as well as a paper on dermatosis papulosa nigra. In a large study of the pathogen spectrum of tinea capitis in Ugandan children, Trichophyton violaceum was identified as the most common dermatophyte.

In recognition of his outstanding achievements and his high professional competence, Peter was given a leading position as “Lecturer” at Mbarara University of Science and Technology in July 2014. Since then he had been in charge of training the dermatology resident physicians, a task he carried out with great dedication. In addition, he regularly gave lectures at Kampala International University (KIU) in Ishaka (Bushenyi district).

We visiting physicians from Germany who worked with Peter at the Skin Clinic came to know and value him as an extremely kind, helpful and reliable person. He was always in good spirits and full of humour, had an alert, critical mind and wide-ranging interests. It is thanks to him and his colleague Dr. Grace Mulyowa that the good reputation of the Skin Clinic among patients and aspiring dermatologists spread throughout Uganda and beyond its borders.

For the Skin Clinic at Mbarara University his death is a very painful loss; the gap he leaves behind will certainly be difficult to fill. Peter leaves behind his wife Caroline Nalwanga and two young sons. We mourn with them and will always remember him.