Goldstein was born in Kingstree, South Carolina, the son of Fannie (Alpert) and Isadore E. Goldstein, who owned a clothing store. His family is Jewish.[5] Goldstein received his BSci from Washington and Lee University in 1962, and his MD from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in 1966.[3] Upon completion of his residency, Goldstein moved to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, where he worked in biochemical genetics.[6] In 1972, Goldstein relocated back to the Southwestern Medical Center, accepting a post as the head of the Division of Medical Genetics.[6]
At the Southwestern Medical Center Goldstein collaborated extensively with Michael Brown, a fellow researcher at the center who had also worked at the NIH.[6] From 1973 to 1985, Goldstein and Brown together published over one hundred major papers.[7] They are both listed in Thomson Reuters’ index of highly cited authors.[8] Frequently mentioned as a candidate for nationally prominent positions in scientific administration, Goldstein, like his colleague Michael Brown, chose to continue hands-on research.[9][10]
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.[11][12][13]
Goldstein was appointed as chairman of the Albert Lasker Medical Research Awards jury in 1995,[22] and was a recipient of the award ten years earlier.[23] 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.[24]
Brown MS, Goldstein JL (October 2004). "A tribute to Akira Endo, discoverer of a "penicillin" for cholesterol". Atherosclerosis Supplements. 5 (3): 13–16. doi:10.1016/j.atherosclerosissup.2004.08.007.
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.
Joseph L. Goldstein (October 2014). "Balzac's Unknown Masterpiece: spotting the next big thing in art and science". Nature Medicine. 20 (10): 1106–1111. doi:10.1038/nm.3676. PMID25295945. S2CID3558056.
Joseph L. Goldstein (October 2013). "Juxtapositions in Trafalgar Square: tip-offs to creativity in art and science". Nature Medicine. 19 (10): 1222–1226. doi:10.1038/nm.3329. PMID24100991. S2CID22189523.
Joseph L. Goldstein (October 2012). "Paradigm shifts in science: insights from the arts". Nature Medicine. 18 (10): 1473–1477. doi:10.1038/nm.2923. PMID23042355. S2CID27954297.
Joseph L. Goldstein (October 2011). "The card players of Caravaggio, Cézanne and Mark Twain: tips for getting lucky in high-stakes research". Nature Medicine. 17 (10): 1201–1205. doi:10.1038/nm.2465. PMID21989010. S2CID26830785.
Joseph L. Goldstein (October 2010). "How to win a Lasker? Take a close look at Bathers and Bulls". Nature Medicine. 16 (10): 1091–1096. doi:10.1038/nm1010-1091. PMID20930751. S2CID31919299.
Joseph L. Goldstein (October 2009). "Lasker Awards and papal portraiture: turning fields upside down". Nature Medicine. 15 (10): 1137–1140. doi:10.1038/nm1009-1137. PMID19812573. S2CID26946901.
Joseph L. Goldstein (October 2008). "Exuberant unpredictability: sine qua non for priceless and prizeworthy biomedical research". Nature Medicine. 14 (10): 1029–1032. doi:10.1038/nm1008-1029. PMID18841142. S2CID36086102.
Joseph L. Goldstein (October 2007). "Creation and revelation: two different routes to advancement in the biomedical sciences". Nature Medicine. 13 (10): 1151–1154. doi:10.1038/nm1642. PMID17917663. S2CID29403975.
Joseph L. Goldstein (October 2006). "Venture science: climbing the ladder to telomerase, cognitive therapy and in situ hybridization". Nature Medicine. 12 (10): 1129–1132. doi:10.1038/nm1006-1129. PMID17024207. S2CID5938083.
Joseph L. Goldstein (October 2004). "Towering science: an ounce of creativity is worth a ton of impact". Nature Medicine. 10 (10): 1015–1017. doi:10.1038/nm1004-1015. PMID15459692. S2CID35721266.
Joseph L. Goldstein (October 2003). "It's a grand year for celebrating science". Nature Medicine. 9 (10): 1237–1238. doi:10.1038/nm937. PMID14520362. S2CID5661980.
Joseph L. Goldstein (October 2002). "Synergy and symbiosis à la Matisse-Picasso". Nature Medicine. 8 (10): 1053–1054. doi:10.1038/nm768. PMID12357230. S2CID30056843.
^Culliton BJ. (1989 Sep 29). "Baltimore to succeed Lederberg?.". Science. Retrieved December 6, 2012. "Nobel laureate Joshua Lederberg (1958) is set to retire as president of Rockefeller University in January... Things might not have grown so tense had the man who apparently was at the top of the list said "Yes." But Nobel laureate Joseph Goldstein (1985), who is still very active in the laboratory at the University of Texas at Dallas, was not ready to give up his work on the molecular genetics of blood lipids."
