Ian Diner, 28, Research Scientist

Ian Diner “was a true intellectual,” his family wrote. “He excelled at everything he developed an interest in from argon welding to advanced carpentry, teaching sailing, and exquisite cooking.”

He was an expert skier and was gifted in advanced chemistry and the study of neurodegenerative diseases. “All of these endeavors were food for his soul,” the family said.

Mr. Diner, who was 28, died on May 21 in Atlanta. The cause was accidental, possibly related to complications of a subdural hematoma discovered after his death, according to the family.

A 2007 graduate of Pierson High School, where he was a semifinalist in the prestigious National Intel Science Talent Search, Mr. Diner went on to study at the University of Virginia and then at Emory University in Atlanta, where he earned a B.S. in chemistry and neurophysiology.

Most recently, he was the lead research specialist at the Seyfried Lab, part of the Emory Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases. In this position, he conceived and developed a new approach to rapid and early detection of Alzheimer’s disease, and is listed as an inventor on the patent for this new technology. He published four papers, including one in the highly regarded Journal of Biological Chemistry, where he is listed as the paper’s first author.

Mr. Diner was in the final publication stages of another first-author paper that is soon to be published, also related to the detection of Alzheimer’s. In the coming weeks, Emory was set to film a short documentary on him and the work he was doing on the disease. Not only will that work “have a long-lasting impact in biochemistry and the field of neurodegenerative diseases, but also his professional achievements will give hope and peace to the many lives and families of those afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, now and in the future,” his family wrote.

Mr. Diner had a “fervent curiosity and an insatiable desire for knowledge,” they said. “He yearned to explore, experiment, and extract all there was to learn from life.” As a teenager, he found what he was looking for when he stepped into Robert Schumacher’s high school chemistry class at Pierson. Dr. Schumacher became a mentor and friend. Under his teacher’s tutelage, “and driven by his own work ethic and enthusiasm,” Mr. Diner submitted his work to the National Intel Science Talent Search and became a semifinalist. “Ian was born to be a research scientist,” his family said. “To Ian, chemistry was magic made real.”

“While some of his peers were absorbed in their smartphones, Ian was using his to devour whatever information on science or world culture that he could.” The family considered him their own “walking, talking Wikipedia, remembering every fact he gleaned.”

Mr. Diner was born on May 5, 1989, in Redwood City, Calif., the first child of Martin Diner and the former Nicki Lona Page. The family moved to Sag Harbor when he was 8.

He had “a gentle soul and an inquisitive mind,” his parents wrote, and was “kind and intelligent beyond measure.”

“For many, the sum of Ian’s achievements would represent a full and accomplished life’s work; and yet he had just begun.”

In addition to his parents, Mr. Diner is survived by a sister, Paige Diner, an aunt and uncle, and his girlfriend, Alicia Brockway.

A memorial service is scheduled for Sept. 3 at the Breakwater Yacht Club in Sag Harbor, at a time to be announced.