Bryan W. Jones, PhD

Retinal neuroscientist Dr. Bryan Jones joined the University of Pittsburgh after spending over 24 years at the University of Utah. In graduate school, Dr. Jones studied cancer. He was on the forefront of studying “pathoconnectomics,” which looks at how diseased tissues break down and repair. He looked at the differences between how tissues act under disease and how tissues act when they are healthy. He learned that these interactions were more predictable than he expected, even for diseased tissue.

Early in his career, Dr. Jones also helped to develop software that would piece together electron microscopy images. Previously, the images were taken with film and had to be attached to create a larger picture manually. The software he worked on automated the process of compiling the images. His early career also involved management of Webvision, an online textbook with a compilation of information about the retina geared toward junior high and high school students. This textbook is often cited at conferences, and is publicly available. He also helped create MoranCORE, an online resource for clinicians.

While he is primarily interested in the retina, Dr. Jones has also studied the cornea and anterior segment. He uses detailed imaging to build a virtual model of the eye and other tissues. One way he captures images is through electron microscopy, which uses a wavelength that is smaller than light.

Understanding how we perceive the world through neural circuits involved in vision is compelling enough to Dr. Jones, but understanding how neural circuits are altered in diseases like retinitis pigmentosa, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, and Alzheimer’s drives his work.