2026 – present
University of California, San Diego
Department of Psychology, UCSD Vision and Memory Lab
PhD Student
Advisor: Dr. Timothy Brady
ปลายฟ้า /ˈplaɪfɑː/
Cognitive scientist · Eye signals & human state
plysuwana [at] gmail [dot] com
I’m a PhD student in Timothy Brady’s lab at UC San Diego. I study what the eyes reveal about cognitive state, including attention, alertness, and conscious perception. Before UCSD, I spent four years conducting research at the National Institutes of Health, the University of Oxford, and UC Davis. During that time I built analysis pipelines for eye-tracking, MEG, EEG, and intracortical brain-computer interface (BCI) recordings.
2026 – present
Department of Psychology, UCSD Vision and Memory Lab
PhD Student
Advisor: Dr. Timothy Brady
Present
Human-state sensing
Early warning for declining alertness and performance in safety-critical settings through eye-based sensing.
2024 – 2026
Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, Section on Functional Imaging Methods
Postbaccalaureate Research Fellow (IRTA)
Built an ocular analysis pipeline in MATLAB: pupil and gaze extraction, blink interpolation, microsaccade detection, and event epoching. MEG preprocessing with ICA and artifact rejection, automated on Slurm HPC. Recruited 30+ participants; collected fMRI and behavioral data.
Advisor: Dr. Peter Bandettini
2023 – 2024
Neuroprosthetics Lab
Simons Foundation Shenoy Fellow
Developed a spike-sorting pipeline in Python isolating single neurons from four 64-channel microelectrode arrays implanted in a participant with ALS, as part of a speech BCI study.
Advisor: Dr. Sergey Stavisky
2023
Oxford Perception Lab
Visiting Researcher
Piloted perception paradigms in PsychToolbox and built MATLAB visualization pipelines for iridescent stimuli.
Advisor: Dr. Hannah Smithson
2022 – 2023
Visual Cognition Lab
Research Assistant
Built a 40+ scene image dataset for studying how scene context shapes visual attention; ran eye-tracking experiments and annotated 200+ stimuli for object depth.
Advisor: Dr. John Henderson
2022 – 2023
Neural Mechanisms of Attention + Cognitive Neurolinguistics Labs
Research Assistant
Collected and analyzed 64-channel EEG investigating audiovisual speech processing, including ERP analyses of N400 responses.
Advisors: Dr. George Mangun, Dr. David Corina
2022
Summer Intern
Analyzed clinical records and psychiatric outcomes in multiple sclerosis using nonparametric and categorical statistics. Published as an abstract in Neurology.
Advisors: Drs. Jason Viereck, Kore Liow & Shin Chang
2022
Brain & Behavior Lab + Intergroup Social Perception Lab
Summer Research Assistant
Assembled EEG acquisition systems for neurological rehabilitation research and analyzed demographic effects on face recognition with mixed-design models.
Advisors: Dr. Jonas Vibell, Dr. Kristin Pauker
Browser-based focus tool using webcam gaze tracking (MediaPipe FaceMesh) with three-step calibration and a 10-second distraction threshold.
Price-drop tracker, iOS App Store.
Directory and map of free matchbooks in San Francisco, built in response to community demand on TikTok.
Created UGC content for Rodeo, founded by former Hinge executives.
Led visual design in Krea for a fairy-themed meditation app for a paid client.
PhD student, Psychology (Cognitive and Vision Science emphasis)
Bachelor's, Cognitive Science · GPA 3.83
| NIH Postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award | 2024 – 2026 | $94,300 |
| NIH Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Traineeship | 2023 | $22,338 |
| Simons Foundation Shenoy Undergraduate Research Fellowship | 2023 | $11,598 |
| UK Rank Prize Undergraduate Vacation Grant | 2023 | $5,500 |
| UC Davis Experiential Learning Opportunity Grant | 2023 | $3,600 |
| NIMH Trainee Travel Award | 2025 | $1,000 |
| UC Davis Provost's Undergraduate Fellowship | 2023 | $808 |
| ASSC Early Career Researcher Travel Award | 2025 | $500 |
| UC Davis Undergraduate Travel Award | 2024 | $500 |
2025 – present
Naloxone Network, Community Health Outreach Volunteer · Washington, D.C.
2023 – 2024
Cognitive Science Student Association, UC Davis, Project Manager
2023 – 2024
The Aggie Transcript: Psychology, Treasurer & Senior Editor
2020 – 2021
San Francisco Youth Commission, Vice-Chair