Dr. Lester’s research has focused primarily on understanding the pathophysiology of nicotine addiction, the world's largest preventable cause of death. His research has characterized how the effects of nicotine on nicotinic receptors, receptor proteins, neurons, and the organization of neurons in circuits ultimately lead to altered animal behavior. He also conducts research on the mechanism of other abused and psychiatric drugs. Dr. Lester is Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering at the California Institute of Technology, where he has spent his entire teaching career. He has authored more than 340 scientific papers and holds seven patents on drugs and the brain. including topics such as nicotine addiction and Parkinson’s disease. He has served as President of the Biophysical Society and as a member of the Advisory Council of the U. S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). He has conducted research sponsored by the California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the McKnight Endowment for Neuroscience, NIMH, and the National Institutes of Drug Abuse, Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), Aging, Heart and Lung, and General Medical Science. He received the Fuller Award in Neuropharmacology from the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, the Cole Award in Membranes from the Biophysical Society, and two NINDS Jacob K. Javits Awards. He received degrees from Harvard and Rockefeller Universities.

Work in the Gouaux Lab is concentrated on developing molecular mechanisms for the function of receptors and transporters at chemical synapses by utilizing cryo-electron microscopy, x-ray crystallography, and electrophysiology. Eric Gouaux completed his B.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry at Harvard University. He remained at Harvard for a year as a postdoctoral fellow before continuing his postdoctoral studies at MIT. In 1993, he was appointed assistant professor at the University of Chicago Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In 1996, Dr. Gouaux joined the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Columbia University as an assistant professor. In 2000, he was appointed Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and associate professor with Columbia, reaching full professor the following year. Dr. Gouaux came to the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in 2005 as a senior scientist at the Vollum Institute, continuing his position with Howard Hughes. In 2015, Dr. Gouaux was appointed the Jennifer and Bernard Lacroute Endowed Chair in Neuroscience Research.