[3] He went on to study for his PhD[13] at University of Cambridge in 1975 for work on computer-aided reconstruction of the nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans supervised by Sydney Brenner.

[14][15][16][17][18] With collaborators Sydney Brenner,[19][20] John Sulston[21] and others, White co-developed confocal microscopy and mapped the complete nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans, consisting of 302 neurons and over 7000 synapses.

Recognising the potentialities of laser-scanning confocal microscopy, White built a prototype microscope: with Brad Amos he developed this into a commercially produced instrument now widely used.

[7] The Center for Quantitative Cell Imaging at the University of Wisconsin-Madison hosts a biennial seminar series named in honor of John White.

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