Allan L. Goldstein

Last updated
Allan L. Goldstein
Allan L Goldstein.tif
Born(1937-11-08)November 8, 1937
United States
Alma mater Wagner College (B.S.)
Rutgers University (M.S.)
(Ph.D.)
Known forDiscovery of thymosins
Scientific career
Fields Biochemistry, immunology
Institutions George Washington University Medical School
Doctoral advisor Abraham White

Allan L. Goldstein is emeritus professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine [1] at the George Washington University School of Medicine. He chaired the department from 1978 until March 2009 and was awarded emeritus status in 2013. He is an authority on the thymus gland and the workings of the immune system, and co-discoverer (with Abraham White) of the thymosins, a family of hormone-like peptides isolated from the thymus gland. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Goldstein grew up on Staten Island and received his B.S. degree from Wagner College in 1959 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Rutgers University, the latter in 1964. He served on the faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine from 1964 to 1972, and as director of the Division of Biochemistry at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston from 1972 through 1978 before accepting the chairmanship of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, a position he held for 31 years.

Research

Thymosin α1 (TA1), a molecule with immune enhancing properties, was the first of the thymosins to enter clinical trials. [3] It has been approved in China and more than 30 other countries, [4] and has shown great promise in the treatment of severe sepsis, cancer, and a number of other diseases including the potential treatment of cystic fibrosis. [5] Most recently, TA1 has been found to synergize with a check-point inhibitor and further extend the survival of Stage III/IV melanoma patients previously treated with TA1. [6] Thymosin β4 (Tβ4), the second of the thymosins to reach the clinic, has been shown to accelerate wound healing and the remodeling of injured tissues. [7] An injectable form of Tβ4 has been developed for internal indications such as myocardial infarction, stroke and brain trauma. Early Phase 2 trials have been completed in patients with pressure and venostasis ulcers. [8] Two Phase 2/3 trials in patients with dry eye and neurotrophic keratopathy have been completed in the United States with promising results. [9] A third Phase 3 trial in dry eye will begin in 2019. [10] RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals is developing an injectable form of Tβ4 for internal indications such as myocardial infarction, stroke, multiple sclerosis, brain trauma, and peripheral neuropathy. [11] Dr. Goldstein's research has helped define the role of biological response modifiers in health and disease, and has led to the discovery of important new links between the immune system, the neuroendocrine system and the brain. [12]

Academic achievements

Dr. Goldstein is the author of more than 450 scientific articles in professional journals, the inventor on over 25 U.S. and worldwide patents, and the editor of several books and monographs in the fields of biochemistry, [13] biomedicine, [14] immunology [15] and neuroscience. [16] Over the years, Dr. Goldstein's laboratory has been a center for the training of graduate, medical, and postdoctoral students, many of whom are now continuing and expanding his studies on the role of the thymus in health and disease. [17] Dr. Goldstein has also been a pioneer in medical education, having developed a unique series of distance-education programs presented on the Internet entitled Frontiers in Medicine. [18] This series of lectures and national town forums by leading scientists focused on cutting-edge research. The broadcasts, which were presented live from George Washington University, began in 1997 and were a first for continuing medical education on the Internet. Frontiers in Medicine received the FREDDIE award for best health site at the 1997 American Medical Association Health and Medicine film competition in San Francisco.

Professional activities

Dr. Goldstein was the co-founder and first president and scientific director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Aging and Geriatric Medicine, a nonprofit research institute that supports research and educational activities. [19] He also served as a member of the board of trustees of the Albert Sabin Vaccine Institute [20] and of the board of directors of the Richard B. and Lynn V. Cheney Cardiovascular Institute. [20] Currently, he serves as the chairman of the board and chief scientific advisor for RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, a public company developing novel wound-healing and remodeling therapeutics. [21]

Honors

Dr. Goldstein is the recipient of several awards, including the Career Scientist Award of the Health Research Council, City of New York; the Van Dyke Memorial Award in Pharmacology from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; the Copernicus Medal from the University of Kraków; a citation from the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare "in recognition and appreciation of outstanding work in helping to establish a national program on Biological Response Modifiers"; a Doctor of Science degree (honoris causa) from Wagner College; the Decoration of the Order of Vasco Núñez de Balboa, in the rank of Commander, Panama's highest honor, for "contributions directed to the preservation of human life in the world"; the Distinguished Researcher Award of the George Washington University School of Medicine, and the Chevalier des Palmes Académiques, the highest civilian award of France. He was elected to ΑΩΑ, the National Medical Honor Society in 2007.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infliximab</span> Pharmaceutical drug

Infliximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody, sold under the brand name Remicade among others, is a medication used to treat a number of autoimmune diseases. This includes Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and Behçet's disease. It is given by slow injection into a vein, typically at six- to eight-week intervals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph L. Goldstein</span> American biochemist

Joseph Leonard Goldstein ForMemRS is an American biochemist. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1985, along with fellow University of Texas Southwestern researcher, Michael Brown, for their studies regarding cholesterol. They discovered that human cells have low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors that remove cholesterol from the blood and that when LDL receptors are not present in sufficient numbers, individuals develop hypercholesterolemia and become at risk for cholesterol related diseases, notably coronary heart disease. Their studies led to the development of statin drugs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thymosin</span>

Thymosins are small proteins present in many animal tissues. They are named thymosins because they were originally isolated from the thymus, but most are now known to be present in many other tissues. Thymosins have diverse biological activities, and two in particular, thymosins α1 and β4, have potentially important uses in medicine, some of which have already progressed from the laboratory to the clinic. In relation to diseases, thymosins have been categorized as biological response modifiers. Thymosins are important for proper T-cell development and differentiation.

A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, they include vaccines, whole blood, blood components, allergenics, somatic cells, gene therapies, tissues, recombinant therapeutic protein, and living medicines used in cell therapy. Biologics can be composed of sugars, proteins, nucleic acids, or complex combinations of these substances, or may be living cells or tissues. They are isolated from living sources—human, animal, plant, fungal, or microbial. They can be used in both human and animal medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imiquimod</span> Chemical compound

Imiquimod, sold under the brand name Aldara among others, is a medication that acts as an immune response modifier that is used to treat genital warts, superficial basal cell carcinoma, and actinic keratosis. Scientists at 3M's pharmaceuticals division discovered the drug and 3M obtained the first FDA approval in 1997. As of 2015, imiquimod is generic and is available worldwide under many brands.

Neal A. Halsey is an American pediatrician, with sub-specialty training in infectious diseases, international health and epidemiology. Halsey is a professor emeritus of international health and director emeritus of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in Baltimore, Maryland. He had a joint appointment in the Department of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and serves as co-director of the Center for Disease Studies and Control in Guatemala.

Biological response modifiers (BRMs) are substances that modify immune responses. They can be both endogenous and exogenous, and they can either enhance an immune response or suppress it. Some of these substances arouse the body's response to an infection, and others can keep the response from becoming excessive. Thus they serve as immunomodulators in immunotherapy, which can be helpful in treating cancer and in treating autoimmune diseases, such as some kinds of arthritis and dermatitis. Most BRMs are biopharmaceuticals (biologics), including monoclonal antibodies, interleukin 2, interferons, and various types of colony-stimulating factors. "Immunotherapy makes use of BRMs to enhance the activity of the immune system to increase the body's natural defense mechanisms against cancer", whereas BRMs for rheumatoid arthritis aim to reduce inflammation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thymosin beta-4</span> Mammalian protein found in Homo sapiens

Thymosin beta-4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the TMSB4X gene. Recommended INN for thymosin beta-4 is 'timbetasin', as published by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Vedolizumab, sold under the brand name Entyvio, is a monoclonal antibody medication developed by Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. It binds to integrin α4β7. Blocking the α4β7 integrin results in gut-selective anti-inflammatory activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thymosin α1</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Thymosin α1 is a peptide fragment derived from prothymosin alpha, a protein that in humans is encoded by the PTMA gene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beta thymosins</span>

Beta thymosins are a family of proteins which have in common a sequence of about 40 amino acids similar to the small protein thymosin β4. They are found almost exclusively in multicellular animals. Thymosin β4 was originally obtained from the thymus in company with several other small proteins which although named collectively "thymosins" are now known to be structurally and genetically unrelated and present in many different animal tissues.

Molecular oncology is an interdisciplinary medical specialty at the interface of medicinal chemistry and oncology that refers to the investigation of the chemistry of cancer and tumors at the molecular scale. Also the development and application of molecularly targeted therapies.

Tildrakizumab, sold under the brand names Ilumya and Ilumetri, is a monoclonal antibody designed for the treatment of immunologically mediated inflammatory disorders. It is approved for the treatment of adult patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in the United States and the European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebola vaccine</span> Vaccine against Ebola

Ebola vaccines are vaccines either approved or in development to prevent Ebola. As of 2022, there are only vaccines against the Zaire ebolavirus. The first vaccine to be approved in the United States was rVSV-ZEBOV in December 2019. It had been used extensively in the Kivu Ebola epidemic under a compassionate use protocol. During the early 21st century, several vaccine candidates displayed efficacy to protect nonhuman primates against lethal infection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David A. Hafler</span> American neurologist

David A. Hafler is an American neurologist. He is the Edgerly Professor and chairman of the department of Neurology at the Yale School of Medicine. He is known for his work in immunity, genetics, and multiple sclerosis. In 2018 he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.

Katherine A. High is an American doctor-scientist who is an emeritus professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She was the co-founder, president, and chief scientific officer of Spark Therapeutics and currently serves as President of Therapeutics at AskBio. Her career has focused on pioneering work in the area of gene therapy, with many accomplishments in basic, translational, and clinical investigation in gene therapy.

Satralizumab, sold under the brand name Enspryng, is a humanized monoclonal antibody medication that is used for the treatment of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), a rare autoimmune disease. The drug is being developed by Chugai Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Roche.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SCB-2019</span> Vaccine candidate against COVID-19

SCB-2019 is a protein subunit COVID-19 vaccine developed by Clover Biopharmaceuticals using an adjuvant from Dynavax technologies. Positive results of Phase I trials for the vaccine were published in The Lancet and the vaccine completed enrollment of 29,000 participants in Phase II/III trials in July 2021. In September 2021, SCB-2019 announced Phase III results showing 67% efficacy against all cases of COVID-19 and 79% efficacy against all cases of the Delta variant. Additionally, the vaccine was 84% effective against moderate cases and 100% effective against hospitalization.

References

  1. ↑ "The Expanding Role of Thymosins | The School of Medicine & Health Sciences". George Washington University. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  2. ↑ Goldstein A.L. (2007). "History of the Discovery of the Thymosins". Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1112 (1): 1–13. Bibcode:2007NYASA1112....1G. doi:10.1196/annals.1415.045. PMID   17600284. S2CID   3177237.
  3. ↑ Goldstein AL, Goldstein AL (May 2009). "From lab to bedside: emerging clinical applications of thymosin alpha 1". Expert Opin Biol Ther. 9 (5): 593–608. doi:10.1517/14712590902911412. PMID   19392576. S2CID   71893579.
  4. ↑ Tuthill, Cynthia; Rios, Israel; McBeath, Randy (May 2010). "Thymosin alpha 1: past clinical experience and future promise". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1194 (1): 130–135. Bibcode:2010NYASA1194..130T. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2010.05482.x. ISSN   0077-8923. OCLC   57215385. PMID   20536460. S2CID   20597852.
  5. ↑ Garaci, Enrico (2018). "From thymus to cystic fibrosis: the amazing life of thymosin alpha 1". Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy. 18 (sup1): 9–11. doi: 10.1080/14712598.2018.1484447 . ISSN   1471-2598. OCLC   644930062. PMID   30063868.
  6. ↑ Danielli, Riccardo; Cisternino, Filomena; Giannarelli, Diana; Calabrò, Luana; Camerini, Roberto; Savelli, Vinno; Bova, Giovanni; Dragonetti, Rosella; Di Giacomo, Anna Maria (July 2018). "Long-term follow up of metastatic melanoma patients treated with Thymosin alpha-1: investigating immune checkpoints synergy". Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy. 18 (sup1): 77–83. doi:10.1080/14712598.2018.1494717. ISSN   1744-7682. OCLC   768086347. PMID   30063847. S2CID   51890800.
  7. ↑ Goldstein A.L., Hannappel E., Sosne G., Kleinman H.K. (2012). "Thymosin β4: a multi-functional regenerative peptide. Basic properties and clinical applications". Expert Opin. Biol. Ther. 12 (1): 37–51. doi:10.1517/14712598.2012.634793. PMID   22074294. S2CID   5237443.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "RegeneRx Reports Phase II Venous Stasis Trial Results". March 26, 2009. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  9. ↑ "RGN-259 (Tβ4) Improves Clinically Important Dry Eye Efficacies in Comparison with Prescription Drugs in Dry Eye Model". RegeneRx. July 16, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  10. ↑ "RegeneRx Partner Updates on Clinical Trials". RegeneRx. October 29, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  11. ↑ "RGN-352 | RegeneRx". RegeneRx. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  12. ↑ Hall N.R., McGillis J.P., Spangelo B.L., Goldstein A.L. (1985). "Evidence that thymosins and other biological response modifiers can function as neuroactive immunotransmitters". Journal of Immunology. 135 (2 Suppl): 806s–811s. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.135.2.806 . PMID   2861235. S2CID   41775691.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ Goldstein, A.L. (ed.), Thymic Hormones and Lymphokines: Their Chemistry and Clinical Applications. Plenum Press, New York, 1984.
  14. ↑ Goldstein, A.L. (ed) Frontiers in Biomedicine, Plenum Press 2000.
  15. ↑ Goldstein, A.L. and Garaci, E., Combination Therapies: Biological Response Modifiers in the Treatment of Cancer and Infectious Diseases. Plenum Press, New York, 1992.
  16. ↑ Bergsma, D. and Goldstein, A.L. (eds.), Neurochemical and Immunologic Components in Schizophrenia. Birth Defects: Original Series, Vol XIV. The National Foundation, Alan R. Liss, Inc., New York, 1978.
  17. ↑ "Bloomberg - Javier Paino". Bloomberg. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  18. ↑ "Frontiers in Medicine". Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Institute for Advanced Studies in Aging and Geriatric Medicine, IASIA". www.iasia.org. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  20. 1 2 "Bloomberg - Allan Goldstein, Chairman/Chief Scientific Officer, Regenerx Biopharmaceuticals Inc". Bloomberg. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Bloomberg - Allan L. Goldstein: Executive Profile". Bloomberg. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.