Dr. Jack S. Remington, 90, Physician-Scientist, “the Pope of Toxoplasmosis,” World-renowned Leader in Infectious Diseases, Dies

Dr. Jack S. Remington, who became a legend in the field of infectious diseases, made numerous medical discoveries, published more than 600 articles in peer-reviewed journals, and founded an internationally recognized laboratory for the study and diagnosis of toxoplasmosis, died at his home in Menlo Park, California on Thursday, April 8, 2021.

His wife, Dr. Françoise Perdreau-Remington, said the cause was from complications following joint replacement for a fall-related hip fracture. Dr. Remington had undergone kidney transplantation 10 years ago, the organ having been donated by his wife.

“STAT JACK,” as he was affectionally known by his trainees and colleagues, was born as a twin of his only sibling, Jill, on January 19, 1931 in Chicago, Illinois. He went to the University of Illinois for Medical School, University of California at San Francisco for medical internship and residency in internal medicine, the National Institutes of Health for an in-depth research program, and Harvard Medical School for an infectious diseases fellowship. In 1962, Dr. Remington simultaneously joined Stanford University, where he was a tenured Professor of Medicine, and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute (PAMF-RI) where he founded the Toxoplasmosis Serology Laboratory (TSL) and became PAMF’s chief consultant in infectious diseases for over three decades. TSL was named the “Dr. Jack S. Remington Laboratory for Specialty Diagnostics” on November 8, 2019 at a special celebration and ceremony led by Dr. Joseph Lacy (then President, Palo Alto and Mills-Peninsula Divisions, Palo Alto Medical Foundation), chaired by Dr. José G. Montoya, and attended by his family, colleagues, former trainees and members of his beloved laboratory. 

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