Joseph Goldstein
(1940 - )
Joseph L. Goldstein was born on April 18, 1940, in
Kingstree, South Carolina.
Goldstein attended Washington and Lee University in
Lexington, Virginia, and received a B.S. degree in chemistry
in 1962. He then attended Southwestern Medical School
of the University of Texas Health Science Center in
Dallas after receiving the M.D. degree in 1966. Following
graduation, Goldstein became an intern and resident
in medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital (1966-68).
From 1968 to 1970, he worked at the National Institutes
of Health. The next two years Goldstein served as a
Special NIH Fellow in Medical Genetics at the University
of Washington in Seattle.
In 1972, Goldstein returned to the University
of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas.
There he was appointed Assistant Professor
in the Department of Internal Medicine and
head of the medical school's first Division
of Medical Genetics. In 1974, he was appointed
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine
and promoted to Professor in 1976. In 1977,
he was selected Chairman of the Department
of Molecular Genetics at the University of
Texas Health Science Center at Dallas and
Paul J. Thomas Professor of Medicine and
Genetics.
In 1985, he received the Nobel
Prize in Physiology or Medicine (together
with Michael
Stuart Brown) for his research,
and has won numerous other awards for
his contributions that help with hereditary
diseases.
Honorary Societies
National Academy of Sciences (1980)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Association of American Physicians
American Society for Clinical Investigation (President,
1985-86)
American Society of Biological Chemists
American Society of Human Genetics
American Society for Cell Biology
American Federation for Clinical Research (National
Council, 1979-82)
Awards
Heinrich Wieland Prize for Research in Lipid Metabolism
(1974)
Pfizer Award for Enzyme Chemistry of the American Chemical
Society (1976)
Albion O. Bernstein Award of the New York State Medical
Society (1977)
Passano Award (1978)
Lounsbery Award of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
(1979)
Gairdner Foundation International Award (1981)
New York Academy of Sciences Award in Biological and
Medical Sciences (1981)
Lita Annenberg Hazen Award (1982)
V.D. Mattia Award of the Roche Institute of Molecular
Biology (1984)
Distinguished Research Award of the Association of American
Medical Colleges (1984)
Research Achievement Award of the American Heart Association
(1984)
Louisa Gross Horwitz Award (1984)
3M Life Sciences Award of the Federation of American
Societies for Experimental Biology (1985)
William Allan Award of the American Society for Human
Genetics (1985)
Albert D. Lasker Award in Basic Medical Research (1985)
The following press release from the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences describes Goldstein's work:
Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein have through
their discoveries revolutionized our knowledge about
the regulation of cholesterol metabolism and the treatment
of diseases caused by abnormally elevated cholesterol
levels in the blood. They found that cells on their
surfaces have receptors which mediate the uptake of
the cholesterol-containing particles called low-density
lipoprotein (LDL) that circulate in the blood stream.
Brown and Goldstein have discovered that the underlying
mechanism to the severe hereditary familial hypercholesterolemia
is a complete, or partial, lack of functional LDL-receptors.
In normal individuals the uptake of dietary cholesterol
inhibits the cells own synthesis of cholesterol. As
a consequence the number of LDL-receptors on the cell
surface is reduced. This leads to increased levels of
cholesterol in the blood which subsequently may accumulate
in the wall of arteries causing atherosclerosis and
eventually a heart attack or a stroke. Brown and Goldstein's
discoveries have lead to new principles for treatment,
and prevention, of atherosclerosis.
Sources: Nobelprize.org,
Nobel
Prize Autobiography |