Dr. John Troy

Biography

Professor John B. Troy is a distinguished faculty member in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University. He has over 30 years of experience in neuroscience research, initiating his career with doctoral studies focused on visual signal processing in the neurons of the cat lateral geniculate nucleus. His research has delved into the functional properties of neurons in the retina and the lateral geniculate nucleus across various species, including cats, monkeys, mice, and rats. A key theme in his work is providing a quantitative description of how retinal ganglion cells and lateral geniculate cells encode visual information in mammals, including humans. In his later research, he has expanded to consider retinal changes due to disease states and the potential to reverse these changes. Collaborating with Dr. Xiaorong Liu, he focuses on the study of ocular hypertension using mouse models of glaucoma. His laboratory seeks to develop technology for restoring neural function and therapeutic agents, including novel patch-clamp electrode systems for enhanced recording stability and bandwidth. Dr. Troy is involved in projects for developing chemical neural prostheses for retinal degeneration diseases and new visual prostheses targeting the lateral geniculate nucleus to treat patients experiencing blindness from glaucoma and optic neuritis. His contributions have significantly advanced the understanding of retinal neuroscience and therapeutic interventions.

Research Interests