John Ball Email & Phone Number

Upon finishing my Ph.D., during which I built custom models of biological neurons to derive otherwise undiscoverable insights into their behavior, I felt constrained by the limits of pure theory and sought a postdoctoral position in an experimental neuroscience research lab. Having gained proficiency in techniques such as electrophysiology and microscopy, I currently fulfill various strategic, mentoring, and technical roles as a Staff Scientist in this research group. I’m passionate about bringing complex ideas to life with effective teaching, stories, and visualizations.Research that I have conducted or collaborated on has been published in journals such as Science Advances, Cell, eLife, and Nature Protocols. I'm particularly proud of having designed the cover image for the Science Advances issue in which my long-term postdoctoral research project was published (https://www.science.org/toc/sciadv/8/9). We showed that mitochondria in cone photoreceptors of the retina come together to form personal microlenses that we believe to be a critical feature of mammalian vision--a wild trick that previously only insect eyes were thought to perform (and certainly not using mitochondria). This project was featured in popular science media outlets such as Quanta Magazine and Wired.

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  University Of Missouri-Columbia

  Electrical And Computer Engineering