Ruben received his B.Sc. and M.S. degree from Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. Shortly after finishing his studies in December of 1993, he started working at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, IN, in the laboratory of Bruce A. Molitoris; a leader in the field of acute kidney injury. His initial work utilizing electron microscopy transitioned to confocal microscopy when the university purchased a BioRad MRC-1024. The addition of multi-photon excitation hardware and software to the system prompted the development of multi-photon excitation intravital microscopy at this institution in the late 1990’s. Since then, he has been utilizing this technique to augment the research of investigators at his institution, as well as collaborating with researchers throughout the United States and countries in Europe, Scandinavia, and Australia.
Ruben has published over 80 peer reviewed manuscripts, invited reviews, and book chapters. His images have appeared in the covers of over 60 journals and books. He has placed in international imaging competitions sponsored by Nikon and Olympus. His studies on aminoglycoside nephrotoxicity has helped generate numerous patents on the clinical application of select non-nephrotoxic congeners of gentamicin as a safe form of this antibiotic, as well as its use to safely treat monogenic diseases such as Cystic Fibrosis and Muscular Dystrophy. He has also helped to generate several patents relating to the development of a rapid renal function test and plasma volume test utilizing fluorescent dextrans. This work lead to the formation of FAST Biomedical, a small biotech company currently involved in human trials for this technology.
Rubens art is based on the flourescent renal imaging and is available here.
