Steven A. Goldman received his BA from the University of Pennsylvania, his MD from Cornell University Medical College and his PhD from The Rockefeller University. Currently, his laboratory seeks to use neural precursor cells to repair the damaged or dysfunctional brain and spinal cord. In previous studies, he and his colleagues discovered that the human forebrain harbors persistent neural progenitor cells, in both the ventricular epithelium and brain parenchyma. They have since identified discrete neurotrophic agents that act upon these adult neuronal and oligodendroglial progenitor cells to yield their expansion and differentiation. Among the studies he is collaborating on is one that would be the first transplantation of native progenitor cells into the damaged central nervous system (CNS). If successful, these studies should provide a firm foundation for clinical trials of neural stem cell-based therapy. Goldman's lab is also attempting to better define the cell types and molecules involved in cell migration in adult brain tissue. Only by better understanding this process will it be possible to modulate the destinations of implanted or induced brain cells. His focus is on the influence of angiogenesis, and hence of endothelial cytokines, on neuronal migration in the adult brain. The latter exhibits hormone-inducible angiogenesis and neurogenesis, and hence provides a model for assessing the ability of an activated capillary bed to provide a permissive environment for neurogenesis in the adult CNS. In all of this work, the goal is to induce neuronal and oligodendrocytic recruitment in otherwise non-regenerative regions of the adult brain and spinal cord, and to develop these strategies as therapeutic modalities. Goldman has contributed to numerous journals, including Nature Neuroscience, Neuroscience and Molecular and Cell Neuroscience.