Andrew Goldstein: A Pioneer in Prostate Cancer Research and LGBTQ+ Advocacy

Andrew Goldstein, Ph.D., stands at the forefront of prostate cancer research, blending his expertise in molecular biology with a commitment to fostering inclusivity. As an Associate Professor in the Departments of Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology (MCDB) and Urology at UCLA, he also serves as Chair and Executive Director of the Biomedical Research Minor. His affiliations extend to the Broad Stem Cell Research Center and the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA, solidifying his position as a key figure in the field.

Academic and Athletic Beginnings

Dr. Goldstein's journey began at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, where he majored in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Notably, he was a two-time NCAA Division 1 All-American lacrosse player, showcasing his dedication to both academics and athletics.

Groundbreaking Research at UCLA

He moved to UCLA where he completed his Ph.D. in the laboratory of Dr. Owen Witte, isolating epithelial progenitor cells from mouse and human prostate tissue and demonstrating the capacity of progenitor cells to respond to oncogenic transformation. This work included the first demonstration of a cell of origin for human prostate cancer reported in Science Magazine. His doctoral work, conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Owen Witte, involved isolating epithelial progenitor cells from mouse and human prostate tissue. This groundbreaking research demonstrated the capacity of these progenitor cells to undergo oncogenic transformation, leading to the identification of a cell of origin for human prostate cancer, a discovery published in Science Magazine.

In 2011, Dr. Goldstein became the Inaugural fellow of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center and received a Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) Young Investigator Award and a Department of Defense (DoD) Prostate Cancer Research Program Idea Development Award to elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms promoting epithelial cancer initiation, progression and resistance to treatment.

Dr. Goldstein was awarded the 2018 Giants of Science Hope Award from the American Cancer Society, a 2019 Young Investigator Award from the Society for Basic Urologic Research, and a 2024 UCLA Division of Life Sciences Excellence in Research Award. His research has been supported by the NIH, DOD and PCF including a 2024 PCF Challenge Award to investigate metabolic regulation of liver metastatic prostate cancer.

Research Focus: Unraveling Prostate Cancer

The research in the Goldstein laboratory is focused on the intersection between cancer biology, aging and metabolism with an emphasis on defining mechanisms that regulate prostate tumorigenesis. Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer and cancer-related deaths worldwide. A better understanding of prostate cancer initiation, progression and treatment-resistance is critical for developing new therapies to extend life and reduce deaths from prostate cancer.

Dr. Goldstein and colleagues have worked to define progenitor cells in the mouse and human prostate (PNAS) and demonstrate that these progenitor cells are susceptible to oncogenic transformation (Science) and can initiate prostate cancer (PNAS). Aging and chronic inflammation are risk factors for prostate cancer, but the mechanisms by which they increase disease risk has been poorly understood. The Goldstein lab has characterized inflammatory cells in the mouse and human prostate using mass cytometry (AJCEU), and found that luminal progenitor cells are expanded in regions of chronic inflammation (Cell Reports) and in the aging prostate (Cell Reports), suggesting that age and inflammation are associated with an increased population of progenitor cells at risk for transformation. As epithelial cells undergo aging and malignant transformation, they exhibit metabolic reprogramming to support changes in energy demands and a changing microenvironment.

Key Areas of Investigation

Dr. Goldstein's research is centered on several key areas:

Developing Better Disease Models: Creating and refining models to study the initial stages of cancer development, aiming to understand how healthy tissue transforms into cancerous tissue.
Metabolism and Tumor Response: Investigating the impact of metabolism on how tumor cells respond to hormone therapy, seeking to understand resistance mechanisms and identify new therapeutic targets and how cells use energy to influence the way prostate tumors evolve, survive and grow.
Prostate's Role in Reproduction: Exploring the mechanisms by which prostate cells are regulated in reproduction, with the goal of enhancing fertility and developing new contraceptives.

Selected Publications

Dr. Goldstein's research has been documented in numerous high-impact publications, demonstrating his significant contributions to the field. Some notable publications include:

Initial evaluation of a new cervical screening strategy combining human papillomavirus genotyping and automated visual evaluation: the Human Papillomavirus-Automated Visual Evaluation Consortium. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2025.
Safety of topical sildenafil cream, 3.6% in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial for the treatment of female sexual arousal disorder. The journal of sexual medicine, 2024.
A Metabolic-Epigenetic Mechanism Directs Cell Fate and Therapeutic Sensitivity in Breast Cancer. Cancer research, 2024.
Prostate lineage-specific metabolism governs luminal differentiation and response to antiandrogen treatment. Nature cell biology, 2023.
A conserved mechanism for JNK-mediated loss of Notch function in advanced prostate cancer. Science signaling, 2023.
MYC is a regulator of androgen receptor inhibition-induced metabolic requirements in prostate cancer. Cell reports, 2023.
Prostatic proliferative inflammatory atrophy: welcome to the club. The Journal of pathology, 2023.
Highly multiplexed immune profiling throughout adulthood reveals kinetics of lymphocyte infiltration in the aging mouse prostate. Aging, 2023.
Androgen Drives the Expression of SARS-CoV-2 Entry Proteins in Sinonasal Tissue. Journal of clinical and translational pathology, 2023.
Microwell-based flow culture increases viability and restores drug response in prostate cancer spheroids. Biotechnology journal, 2023.
Detecting critical transition signals from single-cell transcriptomes to infer lineage-determining transcription factors. Nucleic acids research, 2022.
Aging of the progenitor cells that initiate prostate cancer. Cancer letters, 2021.
A rapid, high-volume cervical screening project using self-sampling and isothermal PCR HPV testing. Infectious agents and cancer, 2020.
Designing low-cost, accurate cervical screening strategies that take into account COVID-19: a role for self-sampled HPV typing2. Infectious agents and cancer, 2020.
Patient Satisfaction With Human Papillomavirus Self-Sampling in a Cohort of Ethnically Diverse and Rural Women in Yunnan Province, China. Journal of lower genital tract disease, 2020.
Distinct cell-types in the prostate share an aging signature suggestive of metabolic reprogramming. American journal of clinical and experimental urology, 2020.
Targeting cellular heterogeneity with CXCR2 blockade for the treatment of therapy-resistant prostate cancer. Science translational medicine, 2019.
Evaluating the Differentiation Capacity of Mouse Prostate Epithelial Cells Using Organoid Culture. Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE, 2019.
Mass cytometry reveals species-specific differences and a new level of complexity for immune cells in the prostate. American journal of clinical and experimental urology, 2019.
Expansion of Luminal Progenitor Cells in the Aging Mouse and Human Prostate. Cell reports, 2019.
Descriptors of Vulvodynia: A Multisocietal Definition Consensus (International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Disease, the International Society for the Study of Women Sexual Health, and the International Pelvic Pain Society). Journal of lower genital tract disease, 2019.
International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Disease Recommendations Regarding Female Cosmetic Genital Surgery. Journal of lower genital tract disease, 2018.
CD38 is methylated in prostate cancer and regulates extracellular NAD. Cancer & metabolism, 2018.
Deep Phenotyping on Electronic Health Records Facilitates Genetic Diagnosis by Clinical Exomes. American journal of human genetics, 2018.
HoxB13 mediates AR-V7 activity in prostate cancer. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2018.
The ranking of scientists. Journal of biomedical informatics, 2018.
Functional evidence that progenitor cells near sites of inflammation are precursors for aggressive prostate cancer. Molecular & cellular oncology, 2017.
Low CD38 Identifies Progenitor-like Inflammation-Associated Luminal Cells that Can Initiate Human Prostate Cancer and Predict Poor Outcome. Cell reports, 2016.
Activation of Notch1 synergizes with multiple pathways in promoting castration-resistant prostate cancer. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2016.
Tissue Recombination Models for the Study of Epithelial Cancer. Cold Spring Harbor protocols, 2015.
Dissociated Prostate Regeneration under the Renal Capsule. Cold Spring Harbor protocols, 2015.
Preparation of Urogenital Sinus Mesenchymal Cells for Prostate Tissue Recombination Models. Cold Spring Harbor protocols, 2015.
The many ways to make a luminal cell and a prostate cancer cell. Endocrine-related cancer, 2015.
Inflammation promotes prostate differentiation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2014.
Distinct phases of human prostate cancer initiation and progression can be driven by different cell-types. Cancer cell & microenvironment, 2014.
A symbiotic relationship between epithelial and stromal stem cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2013.
Prostate cancer originating in basal cells progresses to adenocarcinoma propagated by luminal-like cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2013.
Does the microenvironment influence the cell types of origin for prostate cancer?. Genes & development, 2013.
The molecular basis for ethnic variation and histological subtype differences in prostate cancer. Science China. Life sciences, 2013.
Estrogen and progesterone together expand murine endometrial epithelial progenitor cells. Stem cells (Dayton, Ohio), 2013.
Adaptation or selection--mechanisms of castration-resistant prostate cancer. Nature reviews. Urology, 2012.
Identification, characterization and targeting of Docetaxel-resistant prostate cancer cells. Asian journal of andrology, 2012.
A plethora of progenitors in the post-natal prostate. EMBO reports, 2012.
Regulated proteolysis of Trop2 drives epithelial hyperplasia and stem cell self-renewal via Î²-catenin signaling. Genes & development, 2012.
Identification of CD166 as a surface marker for enriching prostate stem/progenitor and cancer initiating cells. PloS one, 2012.
On a fundamental structure of gene networks in living cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2012.
Oncogene-specific activation of tyrosine kinase networks during prostate cancer progression. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2012.
Purification and direct transformation of epithelial progenitor cells from primary human prostate. Nature protocols, 2011.
A two-step toward personalized therapies for prostate cancer. Science translational medicine, 2011.
Cell-autonomous activation of the PI3-kinase pathway initiates endometrial cancer from adult uterine epithelium. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2010.
Identification of a cell of origin for human prostate cancer. Science (New York, N.Y.), 2010.
Primitive origins of prostate cancer: in vivo evidence for prostate-regenerating cells and prostate cancer-initiating cells. Molecular oncology, 2010.
Responses to the proposed DSM-V changes. The journal of sexual medicine, 2010.
Human prostate sphere-forming cells represent a subset of basal epithelial cells capable of glandular regeneration in vivo. The Prostate, 2010.
Isolation, cultivation and characterization of adult murine prostate stem cells. Nature protocols, 2010.
ETS family transcription factors collaborate with alternative signaling pathways to induce carcinoma from adult murine prostate cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2009.
Trop2 identifies a subpopulation of murine and human prostate basal cells with stem cell characteristics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008.
Endothelial cell presentation of antigen to human T cells Human immunology, 1981.

Awards and Honors

Dr. Goldstein's contributions have been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including:

Excellence in Research Award, UCLA Division of Life Sciences, 2024.
Prostate Cancer Research Program Idea Development Award, Department of Defense, 2023-2026.
Innovation Award, UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center, 2022-2023.
Faculty Seed Grant, University of California Cancer Research Coordinating Committee, 2022-2023.
Rheos Medicine Short Talk Award, Metabolism in Health and Disease Conference, 2022.
Ablon Scholars Award, UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and Broad Stem Cell Research Center, 2021-2024.
Kidney Cancer Research Program Concept Award, Department of Defense, 2021-2022.
R01, NIH/NCI, 2019-2024.
Innovator Award, Rose Hills Foundation, 2019-2020.
Young Investigator Award, Society for Basic Urologic Research, 2019.
Giants of Science Hope Award, American Cancer Society, 2018.
Research Scholar Grant, American Cancer Society, 2017-2021.
Research Award, Margaret E Early Medical Research Trust, 2017-2019.
Research Career Development Award, STOP CANCER, 2017-2019.
Prostate Cancer Research Program Idea Development Award, Department of Defense, 2013-2016.
Young Investigator Award, Prostate Cancer Foundation, 2011-2014.

A Champion for LGBTQ+ Inclusion

Beyond his scientific achievements, Dr. Goldstein is a prominent advocate for LGBTQ+ inclusion in sports. In 2003, he publicly came out as gay and was drafted by his hometown team, the Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse, in 2005, making him the first openly gay male athlete in a team sport.

He actively collaborates with the You Can Play Project, an organization dedicated to ensuring equality and safety for all athletes, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Through this work, he shares his experiences and insights with high schools and colleges, fostering more inclusive locker room environments.

Teaching and Mentoring

Dr. Goldstein is not only a dedicated researcher but also an engaging and approachable professor. Student reviews highlight his clear and well-structured lectures, his focus on conceptual understanding, and his accessibility to students. He encourages in-class discussion and provides valuable feedback, creating a stimulating learning environment.

His courses cover a range of topics, including the Warburg effect (cancer), the gut microbiome, and immunotherapy. He also invites guest lecturers to share their expertise, providing students with diverse perspectives and insights. Dr. Goldstein's commitment to teaching is evident in his innovative assignments, such as research proposals, which challenge students to think creatively and develop their research skills.

Student Perspectives

Students consistently praise Dr. Goldstein's teaching style and the engaging content of his courses. Here are some excerpts from student reviews:

Read also: Van Ginkel's NFL Career

"An absolute class act. I can say without a doubt that professor Goldstein was one of the best professors I've ever had."
"This is an awesome class with really fun and engaging content, and a great professor. Some of the topics were literally mind-blowing to me."
"Taking a class with Professor Goldstein should be a requirement for every MCDB major in my humble opinion. He is clear, concise and he focuses more on you knowing concepts rather than brute memorization."
"I LOVED THIS CLASS. I thought the topics were all very interesting and the difficulty level/work load was just right!"
"Dr. Goldstein is an absolute rockstar. Took the class because I just needed another MCDB elective but ended up loving it so much. His lectures are extremely clear and engaging."

Current Lab Members

Dr. Goldstein's lab is comprised of a diverse group of talented individuals dedicated to advancing prostate cancer research:

Shirley Zhang: A graduate student in UCLAâs Molecular & Medical Pharmacology PhD program, studying the role of aging and germline variants in prostate cancer risk.
Alan Levinson: A graduate student in the Bioengineering PhD program, co-mentored by Dr. Neil Lin, focusing on [Alan's research area].
Johnny Diaz: A graduate student in the Molecular Biology Interdepartmental Program, investigating [Johnny's research area].
Angel Ruiz: A graduate student in UCLAâs Molecular Biology Interdepartmental Program (MBIDP), researching [Angel's research area].
Andrea Gallardo: A recent graduate from the University of California, Santa Cruz, who contributed to defining the role of OGDHL in advanced prostate cancer.
Ernie Lee: A recent graduate from UCLA, interested in the role of ancestry-specific germline variants that increase risk of cancer.

Former Lab Members

Jenna Giafaglione: A former graduate student whose research interests spanned cancer biology and computational biology.
Preston Crowell: A former graduate student who studied the role of metabolic pathways in prostate progenitor cells and tumorigenesis.
Matthew Bernard: A graduate student who established the role of OGDHL as a regulator of prostate cancer proliferation, lineage identity, and nucleotide metabolism.
Takao Hashimoto: A former Staff Research Associate and lab manager who generated new lentiviral vectors for studying oncogene combinations in prostate cancer.
Nick Nunley: An undergraduate student with an interest in computational biology.
Kylie Heering: An undergraduate student with interests in cancer biology and the somatic manifestations of culture and environment.
Aishwarya Atmakuri: A former undergraduate student who was awarded a scholarship from UCLAâs Undergraduate Research Fellows Program (URFP) and won several prizes including the Library Prize and the Deanâs Prize for Undergraduate Research.
Rachel Dove: A former undergraduate student at UCLA who majored in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics and minored in Biomedical Research.
Sachi Bopardikar: A former undergraduate student at UCLA who majored in Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology and minored in Biomedical Research.
Amelie Delcourt: A former undergraduate student who majored in Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology with a Minor in Biomedical Research.
Jazmin Michel Mondragon: A former undergraduate student who majored in Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology and completed UCLAâs Biomedical Sciences Enrichment Program (BISEP) in 2019.
Jonathan Fox: A former undergraduate student who characterized immune cells in the prostate using mass cytometry
Ana Cabrera: A former undergraduate student who majored in Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics.

tags: #Andrew #Goldstein #UCLA #professor