John (JT) Pirog

WHERE I'M FROM

Born in New Hartford, NY. Raised in San Antonio, TX.

BEFORE VS

I completed my BS in Optics from the University of Rochester where I worked with Geunyoung Yoon studying long term neural adaptation to highly aberrated vision in Keratoconus. Thereafter I worked a few months at Clerio VIsion Inc., a startup developing a non-invasive refractive surgery with femtosecond laser technology. After my brief stint in industry I returned to Geunyoung Yoon's lab where I began development of a in-vivo Brillouin microscope for a previously developed corneal biomechanical model.

WHY I’M HERE

Past research experiences at The L V Prasad Eye Institute and Geunyoung Yoon’s physiological optics lab have introduced me to and hooked me on the unique interdisciplinary approach in vision science. After I became set on vision science there was only one place I could end up…

MY RESEARCH

Optical methods for visual psychophysics.

MY GOALS

I hope to benefit at least one person’s vision with my research. I also hope I can make optics more interesting by teaching it in an approachable way.

MY HOBBIES

I enjoy biking, reading, hiking, camping, basketball, cooking, woodworking, movies, traveling, and golf. I play guitar, bass and piano and I'm learning how to play drums.