Lawrence S.B. Goldstein, PhD, is a Cell Biologist, Geneticist, and Neuroscientist recognized for his work on molecular motors and the role of molecular transport pathways in neurodegenerative disease. Goldstein was born in Buffalo, New York, and grew up in Thousand Oaks, California.

He graduated from UC San Diego with a degree in Biology in 1976 and from the University of Washington with a PhD in Genetics in 1980. He was a postdoctoral fellow in Cell Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder and MIT. He joined the faculty in Cell and Developmental Biology at Harvard University in 1984, where he was promoted to Full Professor with tenure in 1990. He returned to UC San Diego and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 1993.

He is currently a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Cellular and Molecular Medicine and of Neurosciences at UC San Diego. He is also a Special Advisor to the Vice Chancellor for Stem Cell Research and Policy at UC San Diego where he provides advice about programmatic direction in Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at UC San Diego and to other institutions in San Diego.

In collaboration with faculty and administrative colleagues, he launched the UC San Diego Stem Cell program, the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, and the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center. He has received the Public Service Award from the American Society for Cell Biology and has had a Public Policy Fellowship Program named for him by the International Society for Stem Cell Research. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences.