David L. Spector (born (1952-12-06)December 6, 1952) is a cell and molecular biologist best recognized for his research on gene expression and nuclear dynamics.

After completing his Ph.D. he accepted a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

[5] Recent studies in his laboratory are focused on examining the organization and regulation of gene expression in living mammalian cells.

His laboratory has developed approaches to elucidate the spatial and temporal aspects of gene expression and in identifying and characterizing the function of nuclear retained long non-coding RNAs.

His most seminal research accomplishments include the direct visualization in living cells of the recruitment of factors involved in gene expression to active genes;[6] the development of a biochemical fractionation approach to purify a sub-nuclear domain (nuclear speckles) and characterize its protein constituents;[7][8] the development of a live cell imaging system to visualize a stably integrated genetic locus and follow in real-time its mRNA and protein products;[9][10][11] the elucidation of a rapid-response mechanism of regulating gene expression through RNA nuclear retention;[12] identification of a mechanism by which a single genetic locus can produce a long nuclear retained non-coding RNA and a small cytoplasmic tRNA-like transcript,[13] the identification and characterization of a long nuclear retained non-coding RNA that is involved in organizing a sub-nuclear organelle (paraspeckles),[14][15] and determining that knockout or knockdown of the lncRNA Malat1 results in the differentiation of mammary tumors and a significant reduction in metastasis.