Barry Ralph Goldin

Barry Ralph Goldin died peacefully on June 20, 2026 after a long illness, surrounded by his family. He was born on February 25, 1942 in Brooklyn, NY, the only child of Morris Goldin and Blanche (Levy) Goldin. His father was a taxicab driver, and his mother managed the home.

Barry was a member of one of the first graduating classes of the newly opened Wingate High School in Brooklyn, graduating at age 16. He went on to receive a BS in Chemistry from Brooklyn College. Although when entering college Barry’s first interest was history, he reasoned that it would be a difficult field in which to earn a living, so he switched to chemistry. He was subsequently awarded a PhD in biochemistry at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Barry then went on to do a post-doc with the biochemist Dr. Carl Frieden at Washington University in St Louis. He then joined the nascent research group of Dr. Sherwood Gorbach, and soon thereafter in 1975 they relocated to Tufts University School of Medicine, where he retired as a Professor Emeritus of Public Health and Community Medicine. Barry’s initial research activities centered on elucidating the underlying mechanisms of diet-related susceptibility to colon and breast cancer and the role of free radicals in the treatment of established tumors. The Gorbach-Goldin team then entered the emerging field of the gut microbiota, and in 1983 co-developed LGG (Lactobacillus Gorbach and Goldin), a probiotic that survives stomach acid and adheres to intestinal walls, which remains in use today.

He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Dr. Alice H. Lichtenstein, his son, David Lichtenstein Goldin, his daughter, Dr. Rachel Lichtenstein Goldin and her husband John Nolan, and two beloved grandchildren, Isaiah Goldin Nolan and Josephine Lichtenstein Nolan, who have given him much joy in recent years.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Barry Goldin’s memory may be made to The Adams Street Shul (168 Adams St, Newton, MA 02460).