Adam Ruben is an American writer, comedian, rapper, storyteller, science communicator, and molecular biologist. Ruben is known for hosting the show '' Outrageous Acts of Science'' on the

Science Channel Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, manu ...

, known outside the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as ''You Have Been Warned'' and ''Loco Lab''. He has also appeared on the Food Network's ''Food Detectives'', the Science Channel's '' Head Rush'', the Weather Channel's ''Weather Gone Viral'', the

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, who previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in Manhattan, with ...

's ''Mysteries at the Kremlin'',

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

International's ''Superhuman Science'', the Science Channel's '' How Do They Do It?'', the documentary ''Mortified Nation'', and NPR's ''

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

'' and '' The Moth Radio Hour''. He is the author of ''Surviving Your Stupid, Stupid Decision to Go to Grad School'' (

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

, 2010), a satirical guide to post-baccalaureate education, and ''Pinball Wizards: Jackpots, Drains, and the Cult of the Silver Ball'' ( Chicago Review Press, 2017), a narrative nonfiction book about the past, present, and future of

pinball Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...

. Ruben is also known for writing the monthly science humor column "Experimental Error" in the AAAS journal ''Science Careers''. Ruben frequently gives keynote lectures and performances about science, education, career-related topics, comedy, science communication, and public perception of science, and he performs his one-man show about bullying, ''Please Don't Beat Me Up: Stories and Artifacts from Adolescence.''

Early life and education

Ruben was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1979 and raised in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, where he was one of seven valedictorians at Concord High School, a National Merit Scholar and a Presidential Scholar. He majored in Molecular Biology at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, graduating in 2001 with minors in Engineering Biology, Creative Writing, and Theater & Dance, receiving the Gregory T. Pope '80 Prize for Science Writing. While at Princeton, Ruben served as the drum major of the Princeton University Band and wrote sketches and songs for the Princeton Triangle Club. He earned his Ph.D. in Biology at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

in 2008, where he used

isothermal titration calorimetry In chemical thermodynamics, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is a physical technique used to determine the Conjugate variables (thermodynamics), thermodynamic parameters of interactions in Solution (chemistry), solution. ITC is the only tec ...

and

spectrophotometry Spectrophotometry is a branch of electromagnetic spectroscopy concerned with the quantitative measurement of the reflection or transmission properties of a material as a function of wavelength. Spectrophotometry uses photometers, known as spe ...

to quantify the enthalpic and entropic contributions of enzyme-ligand interactions, specifically the binding of novel hydroxymethylcarbonyl isotere-based dipeptidomimetic compounds to the plasmepsin family of aspartic proteases used by the

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

parasite ''

Plasmodium falciparum ''Plasmodium falciparum'' is a Unicellular organism, unicellular protozoan parasite of humans and is the deadliest species of ''Plasmodium'' that causes malaria in humans. The parasite is transmitted through the bite of a female ''Anopheles'' mos ...

'' for breaking down human

hemoglobin Hemoglobin (haemoglobin, Hb or Hgb) is a protein containing iron that facilitates the transportation of oxygen in red blood cells. Almost all vertebrates contain hemoglobin, with the sole exception of the fish family Channichthyidae. Hemoglobin ...

. While at Johns Hopkins, Ruben taught classes in the Expository Writing Program, the School of Education, the Department of Film & Media Studies, and the summer program Discover Hopkins; he still teaches an undergraduate class called "The Stand-Up Comic in Society." For nearly 11 years, he worked on developing a whole-organism malaria vaccine at Sanaria Inc., where he served as the Associate Director of Vaccine Stabilization and Logistics. He currently resides in D.C..

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruben, Adam 1979 births Living people People from Wilmington, Delaware Princeton University alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni Comedians from Delaware Comedians from Philadelphia 21st-century American comedians Concord High School (Delaware) alumni American male comedians American humorous columnists