Dr. Jeremiah Stamler, a trailblazing cardiologist who helped people understand the critical connection between healthy lifestyle and heart health – and who continued his passionate work well beyond his 100th birthday – died early Wednesday.

Stamler, known as "the father of preventive cardiology," was 102. He died at his home in Sag Harbor, New York.

A pioneer in helping to curb the epidemic of hypertension, Stamler in the 1970s put the cardiovascular risk factors of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, a high-fat diet and smoking on the map. His findings were considered controversial and were met with opposition, but he stuck by his research.

Colleagues credit his work as a major force behind the significant decline in heart disease death rates since the 1960s.

"It is no exaggeration to say that few people in history have had as great an impact on human health," said Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, chair of the department of preventive medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and president of the American Heart Association. "Jerry was a giant intellect and led in defining new prevention concepts right up until his last days. He was always innovating, and he was a kind and gentle soul who believed in people."

Known for his love of science and research, Stamler's typically calm demeanor endured whether he was facing opposition to his groundbreaking research from fellow scientists and corporations – or even intimidation from a congressional committee attempting to out Communist sympathizers.

Stamler was the founding chair of the preventive medicine department at Northwestern University, where he was still working on cutting-edge research at the time of his death. He trained and mentored hundreds of health professionals around the world. He authored and co-authored over 2,000 peer-reviewed manuscripts, studies and books that have shaped U.S. public policy for decades, and he was a relentless activist for the causes he cared about.

Stamler was a major proponent of a Mediterranean-type diet – which is rich in fruit, vegetables, olive oil and fish and low in sugar, salt and saturated fat – and credited his approach to eating for his good health.

"He lived exactly what he preached, and it worked out very well for him," said Lloyd-Jones. "He took his science very seriously, but he also had a wonderful sense of fun. He would say, 'If it isn't fun, it isn't epidemiology.'"

Stamler was the son of Russian immigrants. He was born in Brooklyn in 1919 and grew up in West Orange, New Jersey. His exposure to healthy eating decisions came very early. Stamler had said his father turned his nose at white bread after arriving in the U.S., instead feeding his family a diet of hearty ryes and whole grains.

He attended Columbia University and earned his medical degree from the Long Island College of Medicine in 1943. He entered the Army after medical school and served as a radiologist in Bermuda as World War II wound down.

He then moved to Chicago with his first wife, Rose, and took a job in a lab working on cardiovascular issues with pioneering cardiology researcher Louis Katz.

Stamler explored the interactions of diet, hormones, blood pressure and lipids in vascular disease. Rose, a sociologist by training, also became a major force in cardiovascular disease and hypertension research.