Ruben Gonzalez graduated cum laude from Florida International University (FIU) with a B.S. in Chemistry and Biochemistry in 1995. While at FIU, Ruben did undergraduate research with Prof. Stephen Winkle in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, where he investigated the thermodynamics and kinetics of protein and carcinogen binding to unusual DNA structures. Notably, Ruben's research in Prof. Winkle's laboratory demonstrated that RNA polymerases could specifically recognize unusual DNA structures formed at the junction of B- and Z-form DNA.
Ruben next moved to the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley to do his doctoral research with Prof. Ignacio Tinoco. While in Prof. Tinoco's laboratory, Ruben's research interests focused on the structure and thermodynamics of a specific RNA structure, known as an RNA pseudoknot, which is involved in the translational control of gene expression in many viruses. In particular, Ruben was interested in how specific binding of divalent metal ions stabilize RNA pseudoknot structures. As part of his research in Prof. Tinoco's laboratory, Ruben helped develop now widely-used methodology for using cobalt (III) hexammine as a mimic of magnesium (II) hexahydrate in order to determine the solution structure of a divalent metal ion binding site in an RNA pseudoknot using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
Upon obtaining his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2000, Ruben moved to Stanford University where he did postdoctoral research as an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratories of Prof. Joseph D. Puglisi in the Department of Structural Biology and Prof. Steven Chu in the Department of Physics and Applied Physics. While at Stanford, Ruben helped integrate expertise from Profs. Puglisi's and Chu's laboratories in order to pioneer the first single-molecule fluorescence investigations of the ribosome, the universally-conserved RNA-based molecular machine responsible for protein synthesis in all living cells.
Ruben joined the Department of Chemistry at Columbia University as an Assistant Professor in 2006 and was promoted to Associate Professor without Tenure in 2011, to Associate Professor with Tenure in 2012, and to Full Professor in 2015. Research in his laboratory focuses on the biophysical chemistry and biochemistry of Nature's RNA-based molecular machines, with a current emphasis on the mechanism and regulation of protein synthesis by the ribosome. Research in Ruben's laboratory has been recognized with numerous awards, including a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award in the Biomedical Sciences, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, an American Cancer Society Research Scholar Award, a Columbia University RISE Award, a Distinguished Columbia Faculty Award, a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, and most recently, Ruben has been selected as a Finalist for a Blavatnick National Award for Young Scientists.
