ThyroidAhead of Print Free AccessJacques E. Dumont(July 19, 1931–February 6, 2023)Published Online:30 Mar 2023https://doi.org/10.1089/thy.2023.29152.memAboutSectionsPDF/EPUB Permissions & CitationsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail FIG. 1. Jacques E. Dumont (July 19, 1931–February 6, 2023).Jacques-Emile Dumont passed away on February 6, at the age of 91. He was honorary professor of biochemistry and endocrinology at the faculty of medicine and the faculty of sciences of the Free University Brussels (ULB), and had been president of the European Thyroid Association (ETA) between 1996 and 1998.At the end of the 1950s after a postdoctoral stay in John Stanbury's laboratory in Boston, J.E.D. (as he would usually sign) came back to the Free University Brussels and joined the laboratory of experimental medicine of PP Bastenie, one of the initiators of thyroid research in Belgium. With the novel availability of radioiodine, he cofounded with André Ermans the Laboratory of Nuclear Medicine (LMN) in 1963. André Ermans, himself very active in thyroid research, would go on using radioisotopes in the hospital, while J.E.D. would orient the LMN to basic research, keeping the strong links initially established with series of clinicians.Over the years, he transformed the LMN into what became the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research in Human and Molecular Biology, the main research institute of the Faculty of Medicine of ULB, which he directed from 1968 to 2001. In the 1970s, the institute attracted people from Japan, the USA, Canada, and South America to study problems related to the thyroid. Today, its PhDs, postdocs, and principal investigators constitute a busy tower of Babel where researchers from 14 countries work together on a wide spectrum of subjects.FIG. 2. Jacques E. Dumont and signal transduction, June 1976.Jacques Dumont's first contribution to thyroid research related to the pathophysiology of myxedematous cretinism, which he studied with François Delange and André Ermans during several perilous trips to Zaïre, in the tumult of the decolonization of the Belgian Congo. He continued to pursue this subject and decades later discovered the role of selenium in the pathogenesis of endemic cretinism. Thereafter, his main scientific achievements were the result of studies performed under his guidance in the institute he created and where he consistently implemented the most up-to-date technology.Among the more important: dissection of the signal transduction pathways and the role of cyclic AMP in the thyrocyte; identification of iodinated intermediates involved in the negative regulation of thyroid function; demonstration of a mitogenic action of cyclic AMP on the thyrocyte; cloning of the main thyroid autoantigens and identification of gain- and loss-of-function mutations responsible for genetic causes of hyper- and hypothyroidism; identification and cloning of the enzyme involved in H2O2 generation; generation of several transgenic mouse models of thyroid cancer. Despite official retirement (compulsory in Belgium), J.E.D. continued until recently to provide guidance on his favorite research dealing with thyroid cell proliferation, cancer, and thyroid physiology.Jacques Dumont was literally an extraordinary character with many different facets. One of the main ones is certainly his drive “to build”: as such, he was among the founders of the ETA and he created his research institute, first in old interconnected private houses downtown Brussels, then in the first faculty building of a new ULB campus; in the 1990s he cofounded two successful spinoffs, EUROSCREEN and CHEMCOM, which exploited results unrelated to thyroid research produced in his institute and contributed significantly to research funding; in 1977, he cofounded the Hormone and Cell Regulation symposium, which still gathers each year in Mont Ste Odile (France).Another is his competitive mind, which derives probably from his activity as a basketball player (which he played well into in his 60s). He also displayed a strong aptitude for indignation to injustice, inequality, and stupidity, and, contrary to many, his indignation increased with age. J.E.D. was a born leader, capable of inspiring the most placid personalities. His capacity to support and motivate people was paramount especially when, as is routine in research, things do not turn out as expected. For over 40 years, and beyond the limits of his institute, he was the leader of an informal group of individuals who still today recognize and share his values.His combative and lively temperament made for many good days at meetings. We will miss him, standing up at scientific sessions or general assemblies, with questions or remarks that shook the audience.Our thoughts go to Jacqueline, his wife and closest collaborator.On behalf of all present and past members of the IRIBHM,his friend Gilbert VassartProfessor EmeritusFree University of Brussels (ULB)E-mail:gvassart@ulb.ac.beJacques Dumont: Full of LifePreferring topics where evidence is robust or at least possible, the scientific tribe rarely talks about immortality. Still, afterlives of the departed persist as long as they “live on” in survivors' memories, and so will Jacques' memory, as long as we live.Although science brought me and Jacques together, we were mainly friends who met at conferences, such as the Cyclic AMP Gordon Conference in New England. Jacques attended most of these with his charming wife, Jacqueline van Sande. They made a marvelous couple—alive, warm, generous, full of laughter and fun. Glad to share our similar but different worlds in California and Europe, we were eager to argue, agree, gossip, critique, praise, and laugh about any person, question, or topic.FIG. 3. Jacques and Jacqueline Dumont.FIG. 4. Jacques and Jacqueline Dumont, Henry Bourne, Gilbert and Danielle Vassart.After chewing over current scientific morsels, we would soon turn to what makes science so alive—the triumphs, foibles, frustrations, delights, mistakes, wisdom, and foolishness of ourselves, other scientists, students, mentors, journal editors and reviewers, families, children, administrators, universities, institutions, even national governments—the whole human comedy scientists bathe in whenever they stop touting their own importance. With his inexhaustible supply of stories and opinions, Jacques directed a beguiling blend of amusement, criticism, and generosity toward targets in every comic category. As decades passed, my wife Nancy and I visited Jacques and Jacqueline in Brussels, and they visited us in California. Jacques marveled at the Golden Gate, we at Napoleon's view of Waterloo.A man broad and tall, as big as life itself, Jacques was a gifted scientist and a superb friend. By touching our lives, he made us stronger, smarter, more lively, and intense. Grateful for the memories, we miss him.Henry R. Bourne, MD, PhDProfessor EmeritusUCSFE-mail:hrbourne@gmail.comI got to know Jacques in 1974 when joining his laboratory for a sabbatical year. Knowing I wanted to learn something new rather than pursue my own work he suggested I visit around the laboratory to choose who I wanted to work with. Much to his surprise I chose Gilbert Vassart, a graduate student working on the translation of thyroglobulin mRNA. Jacques agreed, and thus started our 50-year three-way collaboration. An energetic highly intellectually engaged researcher and scientist Jacques was also very inventive in clinical practice. During my visit the following year to the Republic of Congo, then Zaire, to study myxedematous cretinism, I learned that Dr. Dumont had developed a method to detect hypothyroidism without resorting to unavailable laboratory testing—he recorded the time it took for individuals to peel a banana.Whether in the laboratory, at conferences and meetings around the world or leading us across the battlefields of Waterloo on his annual family cycle ride, he was always out there in front—the first to ask a question after a talk, raise a new idea with one of his young investigators, or ricochet on rickety bicycles down the notorious Ohain Sunken Road into which, according to Victor Hugo, Napoleon's cavalry had floundered. But my most fond memory of him is at his dinner table; surrounded by family and friends he would hold court over Jacqueline's delicious dinners, discoursing on wine, literature, science, and also politics; on one occasion slapping hard the table and telling my English wife, Heather, that Tony Blair was Bush's poodle.Jacques was the consummate scientist, a harsh critic, staunch friend and ally, an involved husband and father, and an inspiration to many young and not so young coinvestigators. They are no longer made like him—we have lost a true giant in our field.Samuel Refetoff, MD, PhDProfessor of Medicine, Pediatrics and GeneticsThe University of ChicagoE-mail:srefetof@uchicago.eduJacques Dumont taught me biochemistry when I was a medical student at the Université Libre de Bruxelles in the mid-1970s. He was Monsieur Dumont then. Only much later would he become Jacques. My doctoral thesis in 1986 was on growth disorders in children, not on a thyroid topic, but he was the “biochimiste de service” on the committee. I knew he would object to my quoting an article claiming that cyclic GMP was the second messenger of I-do-not-remember-which-hormone, but I had prepared myself for his objection. Did that make an impression on him?I moved to Montreal in 1989 and my research progressively moved to thyroid-related topics, specifically congenital hypothyroidism. Jacques would visit the laboratory every year on his way back from a Gordon conference and was always supportive of my work and of that of my collaborators and trainees. His sometimes-abrupt comments, together with his imposing physical stature, earned him the nickname “Zeus” in our group.On these visits to Montreal, he was always accompanied by Jacqueline and my wife Chantal and I shared many a good moment with them, both in the city and at the lake where we have a cottage. One year, I remember he and I swam around the bay (about 1 km). Upon finally coming back to the shore, despite my being 20 years younger, I was the one huffing, puffing, and shivering!We last saw him in April 2022. He was physically, but not so much intellectually, quite diminished. We were impressed by all the care he was receiving from Jacqueline. This allowed him to remain at home until the very end.FIG. 5. Jacques E. Dumont and Samuel Refetoff.FIG. 6. Jacques E. Dumont with Guy and Chantal Van Vliet in Montréal.Merci, Monsieur Dumont, thanks Jacques, for the mentorship and support I received from you over nearly half a century. Rest in peace, thyroid research will go on!Guy Van Vliet, MD, PhDProfesseur ÉmériteDépartement de PédiatrieUniversité de MontréalE-mail:vanvlieg@gmail.comHaving followed Jacques Dumont's work for 50 years, as well as interacting with him personally from time to time, we appreciated and respected his enormous stature as a scientist and as a human being. Dr. Dumont's knowledge and insight into the physiology of the thyrocyte is, in our opinion, unparalleled by any scientist during this period, as described elsewhere by Dr. Vassart, his outstanding protégé. However, we can comment on our perception of Dr. Dumont's qualities that, we believe, made him a giant in his field. High intelligence, a given, was supplemented by a vast fund of knowledge, attention to detail, and being able to see the light in dark places. He “lived” his science with tenacity, enthusiasm, and hard work. We remember being told that Dr. Dumont and his team spent weekend mornings in the library, reading and discussing the literature to gain knowledge as well critically analyzing studies that he considered scientifically unsound.At the personal level, the features that we remember are Dr. Dumont's enthusiasm and his kindness (with exceptions for some scientists, or “emperors” whose clothes he was unable to see). Even though some of his political views did not always coincide with ours, these were easily put aside by the warmth of his personality. We cannot forget his kindness when we could not find a dinner table at which to sit during a scientific function. Seeing our discomfort, he and his wife Jacqueline gestured to us and made space for us to join them at their table. He was like someone many decades younger when he expressed his awe at finally attaining his long-standing goal of visiting the Straights of Magellan. We also recall, when he recently visited us in Los Angeles, his boyish enthusiasm that shone through at the prospect of his forthcoming visit to Tahiti.FIG. 7. Jacques E. Dumont and Jacqueline with Basil Rapoport.Overall, Jacques Dumont will remain a unique and unmatched figure in the thyroid field. Given the presently diminished interest in basic thyroid physiology research in favor of translational studies on thyroid cancer, it is difficult to imagine someone of his stature emerging for many years to come.Basil Rapoport, MBChBProfessor of Medicine EmeritusSandra McLachlan, PhDProfessor of Medicine EmeritaDepartment of MedicineDavid Geffen School of MedicineUCLAE-mail:basil.rapoport@ucla.eduJacques Dumont, my colleague and friend for 50 years. We first met at the ETA congress in Bern (1971). I was a young doctor attending my first thyroid meeting. Jacques was already a widely recognized scientist with an impressive personality. His stormy discussions with Serge Lissitzky, Nino Salvatore, and Jacques Nunez had something to astonish and amaze the youngster who watched, speechless at these brilliant verbal jousts. Since then, we have met again at each annual ETA meeting and our ties have only grown closer. Over the years, we gradually became colleagues at our faculty of medicine (ULB) and got to know each other better by often having common positions in our intra-faculty policy debates.FIG. 8. Jacques E. Dumont and Daniel Glinoer at the 1975 International Conference, Boston.While we did not always agree, our political positions came together frequently, especially when opposing the injustices and conservatism classically associated with medical schools. Stranded together in Washington DC during 9/11, I fondly remember Jacques chatting at length with Evelyne (my wife). We organized together the ETA congress in Brussels (1982). We were also linked by mutual friends, in particular Gilbert Vassart, François Delange, and my mentor André Ermans. It was, therefore, natural that Jacques and I cosigned the end-of-life eulogies of F. Delange (2007) and A. Ermans (2009). Through Jacques, I also got to know Jacqueline better, his close collaborator and life partner.I keep precious memories of a lovely visit Jacqueline and I made to a superb castle-park near Newcastle (ETA congress, 2018). Jacques was already tired at that time; having trouble getting around, he had not wanted to accompany us. My last conversation with Jacques dates back to the end of 2021. The ETA had asked me to prepare a lecture on the history of thyroid research in Belgium intended for the ETA meeting in Brussels (2022). I had naturally contacted Jacques to ask for his help with this preparation. He accepted with enthusiasm despite his declining health. Jacques will remain for me not only an eminent scientist and one of the glories of our faculty but above all an impressive man of keen intelligence and a natural leader, a “romantic” entrepreneur as well as a charming (and “charmeur”) companion who lived his life to the full, personal and public.Glinoer Daniel, MD, PhDFree University Brussels (ULB)E-mail:daniel.glinoer@gmail.comJacques Dumont a Man of PrincipleWhen the history of thyroid research is written, no doubt an entire chapter will be devoted to the research conducted by Jacques Dumont. For those of us who love science, reading the discussions of his articles is a true delight; it is similar to reading a tale by Jorge Luis Borges or Edgar Allan Poe. His discussions are a teaching manual on how to write a scientific article, his graphics with arrows of the different regulatory mechanisms were a “trademark.” In his articles, passion and reason came together, because Dumont, a great scientist, was also passionate about what he did.Jacques Dumont was an open minded, sharp, very intelligent, ironic, and funny person. He had an extraordinary memory. Every week we held seminars in which we shared the results obtained during the week. Despite the large number of participant researchers, he remembered the previous results and made interesting comments about the future lines of work. He read a lot and it was usual to see him going home carrying two portfolios loaded with many reprints, to read at home. He was a competitive tennis and basketball player. Like a good Belgian he enjoyed fine food and wine. Sharing our time with him was quite an experience of learning, thus making him a teacher to remember.FIG. 9. Jacques E. Dumont with Mario Pisarev (left) and Guillermo Juvenal.Guillermo Juvenal, PhDConsultant Researcher at the Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica CNEAProfessor at Universidad AustralBuenos AiresE-mail:guillejuve@yahoo.com.arMario Pisarev, MDProfessor EmeritusUniversity of Buenos AiresE-mail:mpisarev@yahoo.com.arFiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 0Issue 0 InformationCopyright 2023, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishersTo cite this article:Jacques E. Dumont(July 19, 1931–February 6, 2023).Thyroid.ahead of printhttp://doi.org/10.1089/thy.2023.29152.memOnline Ahead of Print:March 30, 2023PDF download