Insights from

Nobel Laureates, for scientists everywhere

Joseph Goldstein

Joseph Goldstein

Joseph L. Goldstein is currently Chairman of the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.  In 1985, he was named Regental Professor of the University of Texas.  He also holds the Paul J. Thomas Chair in Medicine and the Julie and Louis A. Beecherl Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Science.

Dr Goldstein and his colleague, Michael S. Brown, discovered the low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor and worked out how these receptors control cholesterol homeostasis.  At the basic level, this work opened the field of receptor-mediated endocytosis, and at the clinical level it helped lay the conceptual groundwork for development of drugs called statins that lower blood LDL-cholesterol and prevent heart attacks.  Drs Goldstein and Brown shared many awards for this work, including the Lasker Award in Basic Medical Research (1985), Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1985), and National Medal of Science (1988).

In recent work, Drs. Goldstein and Brown discovered the SREBP family of transcription factors and showed how these membrane-bound molecules control the synthesis of cholesterol and fatty acids through a newly described process of Regulated Intramembrane Proteolysis.  For this work, Drs. Brown and Goldstein received the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research (2003).

Dr Goldstein is currently Chairman of the Albert Lasker Medical Research Awards Jury and is a member of the Boards of Trustees of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and The Rockefeller University.  He also serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the Welch Foundation, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and the Broad Institute.  He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a Foreign Member of the Royal Society.

How does it feel to make a discovery?
Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown

How does it feel to make a discovery?

What makes a good research question?
Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown

What makes a good research question?

What makes a good paper?
Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown

What makes a good paper?

What inspires you about science?
Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown

What inspires you about science?

Is competition a problem?
Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown

Is competition a problem?

Is it important to discuss your work with other scientists?
Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown

Is it important to discuss your work with other scientists?

What do you look for in job applications?
Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown

What do you look for in job applications?

How do you choose the right lab to work in?
Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown

How do you choose the right lab to work in?

What did your early mentors teach you?
Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown

What did your early mentors teach you?

Do you find problems you can’t yet solve?
Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown

Do you find problems you can’t yet solve?

Why is a partnership so rewarding?
Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown

Why is a partnership so rewarding?

Do scientists need to work long hours?
Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown

Do scientists need to work long hours?

How certain should you be before you publicise a new discovery?
Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown

How certain should you be before you publicise a new discovery?

Is it important to publish in high impact journals?
Joseph Goldstein

Is it important to publish in high impact journals?

What should you look for in a mentor?
Joseph Goldstein and Michael Brown

What should you look for in a mentor?