In Memoriam: Jeremiah Stamler, MD 1919-2022

Dr. Jeremiah Stamler, who was among a small group of scientists that founded the fields of cardiovascular epidemiology and preventive cardiology, died at age 102 on January 26, 2022. Dr. Stamler was professor emeritus of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and was known by many as the “father of preventive cardiology.” He was a visionary scientist and public health advocate who for decades performed the large-scale population-based cohort studies and interventional trials that helped establish what we now understand to be the major causal and modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD): dyslipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, cigarette smoking, and unhealthy diet.

Jerry began his career in the late 1940s working with Dr. Louis Katz, feeding high-cholesterol food to chickens and documenting the development of atherosclerosis. Those initial observations led him to pivot in the 1950s and 1960s to develop early human cohort studies that defined adverse diet profiles and risk factors associated with CVD. Later, he was also a leader in early prevention trials, including the Coronary Drug Project, Hypertension Detection and Follow-Up Program, and Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial.

In the late 1950s he joined the Chicago Department of Public Health and Northwestern University, leading some of the first population-based screening and public health campaigns against heart disease. In 1972, he founded the Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine at Northwestern. For much of his career, Jerry had to apply his mantra of “slow, steady pressure” to effect change with his outstanding science against entrenched interests in medicine and industry, including the Salt Institute and the Meat Institute. His leadership of the global INTERSALT and INTERMAP studies, along with his first wife Rose Stamler (who died in 1998), defined the patterns and micronutrients of diets associated with blood pressure elevation (or maintenance). At the time of his death, he was still performing NIH-funded science examining metabolomic profiles associated with diet and blood pressure.

A consummate team scientist and humanist who mentored and trained thousands of scientists through his international seminars, Jerry also played a pivotal role in American history. In 1965, he was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Instead of testifying or invoking his 5th Amendment rights, Jerry uniquely invoked his 1st Amendment rights, refused to answer questions, and sued the committee for what he felt was its unconstitutional activities. After being held in contempt of Congress, Jerry pursued an 8-1/2 year legal battle that ended with the committee dropping its charges and, ultimately, disbanding, events attributed to his strong character and firm beliefs.

Jerry practiced what he preached, pursuing the Mediterranean diet for more than 70 years, which kept him mentally sharp and scientifically active until just days before he died. He had married his second wife, Gloria, a childhood sweetheart, in 1999; Gloria passed away in April, 2021.

It is no exaggeration to say that the pioneering work of Dr. Stamler over more than seven decades has extended and improved millions of lives around the world. We have lost one of the founders and guiding lights of our field, and a truly humble and remarkable person. When asked at age 99 what he felt his greatest contribution to human health had been, Jerry smiled and replied: “I leave it to history.”