December 13, 2021

The Welch Foundation Announces Retirement of Dr. Joe Goldstein

Distinguished Scientific Advisory Board Member to be recognized for 35 years of service.

Houston, TX - December 13, 2021 - The Welch Foundation, one of the nation’s largest sources of private funding for basic chemical research, has announced Dr. Joseph L. Goldstein will retire from the foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board where he has served for 35 years. During his tenure, the Scientific Advisory Board recommended to the directors that over $500 million in funding for chemical research grants be approved, many of which have led to tremendous developments for the betterment of humankind. The Foundation greatly appreciates his many years of service and his invaluable expertise that aided the foundation with the everchanging landscape of chemical research.

Joseph L. Goldstein is currently chairman of the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. In 1985, he was named Regental Professor of the University of Texas and 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 receptor and worked out how these receptors control cholesterol homeostasis, which resulted in Goldstein and Brown sharing many awards 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 made discoveries with the SREBP family of transcription factors, which led to the two doctors receiving the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research in 2003.