Jerold S. Harmatz

Jerold S. Harmatz, age 83 of Newton, passed away April 14, 2023. He leaves behind his wife of 33 years, Jean MacFadyen; his brother and sister-in-law, Howard and Elsa Harmatz; his children by a previous marriage, Julia E. and Benjamin J. Harmatz; and his grandchildren Soleil and Clio. He was a graduate of Harvard University. For over 50 years, Jerry delighted in mentoring and teaching generations of students and research assistants, focusing on biostatistics, statistical reasoning, study design, ethics, and intellectual integrity.

Jerry’s professional life began in the 1950s and 1960s, when he devoted himself to the care and treatment of patients in the Massachusetts state mental hospital system. His unique talents in quantitative biomedical research became evident during this time, and he connected with a research team at Harvard Medical School that used controlled clinical trial designs to understand the effects of drugs prescribed to treat psychiatric disorders. The team moved to Tufts University School of Medicine and Tufts Medical Center in 1979. There, Jerry spent the rest of his career as a biomedical researcher, making critical contributions to the team’s research in trial design and biomedical statistics, along with advanced modeling and simulation approaches to linking plasma concentrations of drugs to their clinical actions. Over the years, Jerry co-authored more than 260 scientific publications, many of which are still highly cited by subsequent investigators.

Jerry was also a lover of music, language, science, and reading of all sorts. His excitement over a new performance or artist he had found or a passage in a book he was reading was infectious.  He was a good friend and a loving husband. He will be sorely missed.

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