CV

Education

Ph.D. in Neuroscience, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada (Sep. 2018 – Oct. 2025)
- Dissertation: Shaping cortical and behavioral motor dynamics using a real-time closed-loop feedback system
- Advisor: Prof. Timothy H. Murphy
M.Sc. Interactive Entertainment Technology (CS), Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (Aug. 2011 – Jul. 2012)
B.E. Computer Engineering, University of Pune, India (Aug. 2004 – Jul. 2008)

Research and work experience

Postdoctoral Researcher, Stanford University, California, USA (Dec. 2025 – present)
- Studying cortical–spinal cord interactions during motor learning to understand stroke recovery.
PhD Researcher, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada (Sep. 2018 – Jul. 2025)
- Designed and implemented closed-loop feedback systems to study cortical dynamics in motor learning tasks in mice.
- Developed computational models (RNNs, HMMs) to analyze neural data and identify learning-related activity patterns.
- Collaborated on computational modeling of Allen Institute datasets with Dr. Adrienne Fairhall’s lab.
Research Associate, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA (Oct. 2015 – Jun. 2018)
- Used computational analysis of behavior to discover developmental change in memory-guided attention mechanisms in a smart playroom.
Research Engineer, ATR International, Kyoto, Japan (Dec. 2012 – Jul. 2015)
- Decoded physical actions from near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) brain signals in an assisted smart house for people with disabilities.
Intern (M.Sc. thesis), ATR International, Kyoto, Japan (May 2012 – Jul. 2012)
- Thesis: Estimating a person’s object of interest in a smart house using depth sensors.
Sr. Software Developer, Propalms Network Pvt. Ltd., Pune, India (Dec. 2008 – Aug. 2011)
- Worked on a novel virtual private network (VPN) and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).
Associate Software Developer, GlobalLogic, Noida, India (Aug. 2008 – Dec. 2008)

Teaching and mentorship

Programming Tutor (Python, MATLAB), Dynamic Brain Circuits cluster, UBC (Mar. 2020 – Dec. 2023)
Teaching Assistant, UBC Neuroscience NRSC-500 (2022F) (Sep. 2022 – Dec. 2022)
Teaching Assistant, Summer Workshop on the Dynamic Brain, Friday Harbor, USA (Aug. 2022 – Sep. 2022)
Lead Teaching Assistant, UBC Neuroscience NRSC-501 (2021W) (Dec. 2020 – May 2021)
Teaching Assistant, Neuromatch Academy Summer School, online (Jul. 2020, Aug. 2021)
Teaching Assistant, Frontiers in Neurophotonics Summer School, Quebec City, Canada (Jun. 2019)

Summer schools and workshops

Summer Workshop on the Dynamic Brain (Allen Institute; U. Washington, USA), Aug. 2021
CNEURO 2020: Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience (Tsinghua University, China), Aug. 2020
Methods in Neuroscience at Dartmouth (Dartmouth College, USA), Jul. – Aug. 2018
Translational Neuroscience and Neural Engineering (Brown University & EPFL), Jun. 2018
Computational Approaches to Memory and Plasticity (NCBS, Bengaluru, India), Jul. – Aug. 2017

Technical skills

Programming languages: Python, MATLAB, C#, C++, C
Data analysis and modeling: tensor decomposition, RNNs, HMMs, PCA, t-SNE, UMAP, clustering, statistical analysis, signal processing, supervised and unsupervised machine learning, computer vision, augmented reality
Neuroimaging techniques: widefield and two-photon imaging, optogenetics, electroencephalography (EEG), near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)
Software and tools: Conda, VS Code, GitHub, OpenCV, OpenGL, SciPy, NumPy, Inkscape

Publications

Brain-machine interfaces for assistive smart homes- A feasibility study with wearable near-infrared spectroscopy

Takeshi Ogawa, Jun-Ichiro Hirayama, Pankaj Gupta, Hiroki Moriya, Shumpei Yamaguchi, Akihiro Ishikawa, Yoshihiro Inoue, Motoaki Kawanabe, Shin Ishii

Multi-sensor based state prediction for personal mobility vehicles

Jamilah Abdur-Rahim ,Yoichi Morales ,Pankaj Gupta ,Ichiro Umata ,Atsushi Watanabe ,Jani Even ,Takayuki Suyama,Shin Ishii

What are the visual features underlying human versus machine vision?

Drew Linsley, Sven Eberhardt, Tarun Sharma, Pankaj Gupta, Thomas Serre

Cortex-wide Computations in Complex Decision Making in Mice

Pankaj K Gupta, Timothy H Murphy

Real-time selective markerless tracking of forepaws of head fixed mice using deep neural networks

Brandon J. Forys, Dongsheng Xiao, Pankaj Gupta and Timothy H. Murphy

The value of choice in 3- to 7-year-olds’ use of working memory gating strategies in a naturalistic task

Livia Freier,Pankaj Gupta,David Badre,Dima Amso

Neuromatch Academy- a 3-week, online summer school in computational neuroscience

't Hart, Bernard M., et al.

Real-time neural feedback of mesoscale cortical GCAMP6 signals for training mice

Pankaj K Gupta, Timothy H Murphy

A three-dimensional virtual mouse generates synthetic training data for behavioral analysis

Luis A. Bolaños, Dongsheng Xiao, Nancy L. Ford, Jeff M. LeDue, Pankaj K. Gupta, Carlos Doebeli, Hao Hu, Helge Rhodin & Timothy H. Murphy

Using Computational Analysis of Behavior To Discover Developmental Change In Memory-Guided Attention Mechanisms In Childhood

Dima Amso, Lakshmi Govindarajan, Pankaj Gupta, Diego Placido, Heidi Baumgartner, Andrew Lynn, Kelley Gunther, Tarun Sharma, Vijay Veerabadran, Kalpit Thakkar, Seung Chan Kim, Thomas Serre

PyMouseTracks: flexible computer vision and RFID-based system for multiple mouse tracking and behavioral assessment

T Fong, H Hu, P Gupta, B Jury, TH Murphy

Real-Time Closed-Loop Feedback System For Mouse Mesoscale Cortical Signal And Movement Control: CLoPy

Gupta, P., & Murphy, T. (2024). "Real-Time Closed-Loop Feedback System For Mouse Mesoscale Cortical Signal And Movement Control: CLoPy." eLife 14:RP105070.

Talks

DBC Intro to Programming Courses

April 01, 2019

Tutorial at DMCBH, Vancouver, Canada, Vancouver, Canada

Programming Hardware with the Raspberry Pi using Python

June 02, 2019

Tutorial at Frontiers in Neurophotonics Summer School 2019, Quebec City, Canada

Real-time Neural Feedback of Mesoscale Cortical GCaMP6 Signals Using Raspberry-Pi

July 11, 2019

Poster at NeuroFutures 2019, Portland, Oregon, USA

Real-time Neural Feedback of Mesoscale Cortical GCaMP6 Signals Using Raspberry-Pi

October 19, 2019

Poster at Society for Neuroscience 2019, Washington DC, USA

Functional Cortical Imaging in Mouse Models of Stroke

July 22, 2020

Talk at SPiN Workshop 2020, Online

What classical neuroscience result would you revisit with a BMI? (Neural Interfaces for Neurobiological Insights)

October 09, 2020

Talk at Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, 25 Howland Street, London, W1T 4JG, London, UK

Real-time neural feedback of mesoscale cortical GCaMP6 signals for training mice

March 12, 2021

Poster at Computational and Systems Neuroscience (Cosyne) 2021, Online

Real-time Neural Feedback of Mesoscale Cortical GCaMP6 Signals Using Raspberry-Pi

May 17, 2021

Talk at Online, Online

Can we aid in stroke recovery?

June 03, 2021

Talk at UBC Psychiatry Research Day 2021, Vancouver, Canada

Real-time sensory feedback of cortical activity with a BCI

June 07, 2021

Talk at Unifying Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence in Quebec (UNIQUE) - Student Symposium 2021, Quebec City, Canada

Real-time sensory feedback of cortical activity with a BCI

June 16, 2021

Talk at Canadian Student Health Research Forum 2021, Manitoba, Canada

Real-time sensory feedback of cortical activity with a BCI

June 17, 2021

Talk at NeuroSymposium 2021, Montreal, Qc

NapHack – Hack your naps for better productivity!

August 02, 2021

Hackathon at natHACKS - NeurAlbertaTech's inaugural brain-computer interface hackathon, Alberta, Canada

LOUDy Bird - to fulfill the therapeutic needs of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients

August 14, 2021

Hackathon at Brain-Tech 2021, Vancouver, Canada

Can we aid in stroke recovery?

November 02, 2021

Talk at Frontiers in Neurophotonics Highlights 2021, Quebec City, Canada

Introduction to DeepLabCut

August 10, 2022

Tutorial at Precision Health Bootcamp 2022, Vancouver, Canada

Modeling multi-region cortical interactions using task-specific data-constrained recurrent neural networks

November 16, 2022

Poster at Society for Neuroscience 2022, San Diego, USA

Modeling multi-region cortical interactions using task-specific data-constrained recurrent neural networks

September 01, 2023

Poster at Lake Conference 2023, Seattle, WA, USA

Platform for real-time closed-loop feedback of behavior and/or cortical GcaMP activity in mice using an all-optical strategy at the mesoscale

November 12, 2023

Talk at Society for Neuroscience 2023, Washington DC, USA

Platform for real-time feedback of cortical GCaMP activity and specific body movements in mice

August 09, 2024

Talk at NeuroAI Seattle 2024 conference, Eugene, OR, USA

Awards and honors

CPSR 180 Pitch Competition, second place
LLMs for Brain Health 2023 hackathon winner
AccelNet IN-BIC fellowship, 2021 and 2022
CCN 2022 conference award (Simons Foundation)
Frontiers in Neurophotonics 2021 presentation winner
Student choice award for project at SWDB 2021
Brain-Tech 2021 hackathon winner
DMCBH Neural Repair Endowment 2021
Edward Squires Memorial Fellowship 2020
MIT GrandHack 2016 healthcare-at-home award
SAMSUNG BADA codeathon 2011 winner

Community engagement

Co-chair, Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery (CPSR) National Trainee Association
Member, Diversity Mentorship Program, UBC
Editor and Communications Manager at Neuropsyched.ca, a UBC student-run science magazine
Science communicator at Science World, Vancouver
Volunteer, planning committee for Psychiatry Research Day 2019, UBC
Assistant Vice President (Academic Services), Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Network (iGSN), UBC
Added support for non-admin users of the OpenVPN client on Windows
Hiking and cleanup drives at natural sites with Kansai International Outdoor Club, Osaka, Japan
Note-taker at Student Disability Services, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland