Joseph L. Goldstein

Joseph Leonard Goldstein ForMemRS (born April 18, 1940) is an American biochemist. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1985, along with fellow University of Texas Southwestern researcher, Michael Brown, for their studies regarding cholesterol. They discovered that human cells have low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors that remove cholesterol from the blood and that when LDL receptors are not present in sufficient numbers, individuals develop hypercholesterolemia and become at risk for cholesterol related diseases, notably coronary heart disease. Their studies led to the development of statin drugs. Goldstein received his BSci from Washington and Lee University in 1962, and his MD from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in 1966. In 1972, Goldstein relocated back to the Southwestern Medical Center, accepting a post as the head of the Division of Medical Genetics. They are both listed in Thomson Reuters’ index of highly cited authors. Frequently mentioned as a candidate for nationally prominent positions in scientific administration, Goldstein, like his colleague Michael Brown, chose to continue hands-on research.

In 1993, their postdoctoral trainees, Wang Xiaodong and Michael Briggs, purified the Sterol Regulatory Element-Binding Proteins (SREBPs), a family of membrane-bound transcription factors. Since 1993, Goldstein, Brown, and their colleagues have described the unexpectedly complex machinery that proteolytically releases the SREBPs from membranes, thus allowing their migration to the nucleus where they activate all the genes involved in the synthesis of cholesterol and fatty acids. The machinery for generating active SREBPs is tightly regulated by a negative feedback mechanism, which explains how cells maintain the necessary levels of fats and cholesterol in the face of varying environmental circumstances.

Goldstein is chair, Molecular Genetics at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Together, Goldstein and Brown lead a research team that typically includes a dozen doctoral and postdoctoral trainees. They have trained over 145 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and six of their former postdoctoral fellows (Thomas C. Südhof, Wang Xiaodong, Helen H. Hobbs, David W. Russell, Monty Krieger, and Russell DeBose-Boyd) have been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Former postdoctoral fellow Thomas C. Südhof received the 2013 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology and Helen H. Hobbs received the 2015 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.

In 1988 Goldstein received a National Medal of Science in the field of molecular genetics, and in 2003 Goldstein and Brown won the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research in recognition for their further work in understanding cholesterol and also the discovery of an insulin-sensitive regulator, which potentially could be used to develop treatments for diabetes mellitus. Goldstein is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine and he was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1991. and was a recipient of the award ten years earlier. Since 2000, Goldstein has authored a series of essays on the deep relationship between art and science that appear in the annual Nature Medicine supplement that accompanies the Lasker Awards.

Among his professional activities, Goldstein is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Howard Hughes Medical Institute and of The Rockefeller University, where he was elected as a Life Trustee in 2015. He also serves as chairman of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the Broad Institute, and is a member of the Board of Directors of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He previously served on The Board of Scientific Governors of the Scripps Research Institute, a nonprofit institute that conducts biomedical research.

Awards

Joseph L. Goldstein has been awarded the following:

2011 – Stadtman Distinguished Scientist Award, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2007 – Builders of Science Award, Research!America 2005 – Woodrow Wilson Awards for Public Service 2005 – Herbert Tabor Award, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2003 – Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research 2002 – Kober Medal, Association of American Physicians 1999 – Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, Harvard Medical School 1991 – Elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) 1988 – U.S. National Medal of Science 1987 – Elected member of the American Philosophical Society 1986 – Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement 1985 – Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1985 – Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research 1985 – William Allan Award, American Society of Human Genetics 1984 – Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, Columbia University 1981 – Gairdner Foundation International Award 1981 – Elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1980 – Elected member of the National Academy of Sciences 1979 – Richard Lounsbery Award, U.S. National Academy of Sciences 1978 – Passano Award, Johns Hopkins University 1976 – Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry, American Chemical Society

Research papers

Essays on "The Art of Science"

Since 2000, Goldstein has authored a series of essays considering science as a creative pursuit, and explores the links between art and science. The essays have appeared in the journals Nature Medicine, Cell, and most recently, PNAS. They coincide with the annual announcement of the Lasker Awards, with which Goldstein is affiliated in the capacity of jury chairman. A collection of Goldstein's essays titled The Art of Science was published in 2023.