CV

Curriculum vitae for Zack Murphy, including education, research, software, publications, teaching, service, and technical expertise.

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Last updated August 2026.

Research Profile

Biomedical Engineering PhD student specializing in EEG-based cognitive neuroscience and Fast Periodic Visual Stimulation (FPVS). My research focuses on standardizing FPVS experiment design and data analysis through accessible, reproducible software, with longer-term applications in mild cognitive impairment related to dementia.

Education

Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering

Mississippi State University | Starkville, Mississippi | 2026-Present
Research focus: Development of software for the administration and data analysis of FPVS experiments.

Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering

Mississippi State University | Starkville, Mississippi | 2024-2026
Research project: Investigating semantic categorization with semantically similar stimuli using Fast Periodic Visual Stimulation.

Bachelor of Science, Bagley College of Engineering (cum laude)

Mississippi State University | Starkville, Mississippi | 2017-2021

Professional and Research Experience

Assistant Undergraduate Coordinator

Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Mississippi State University | Present
I serve as the academic advisor for junior and senior students in the department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at Mississippi State.

Undergraduate Laboratory Manager

Neural Engineering Research Division, Mississippi State University | Present
I manage the Neural Engineering Research Division’s undergraduate laboratory under the supervision of Dr. David Vandenheever. In this role, I oversee multiple active research projects and around twenty undergraduate students.

Research Software

FPVS Studio 2.0

Creator and developer | Python 3.10, PySide6 | 2026
Standalone application for designing and running FPVS experiments, including condition and stimulus management and BioSemi system support.
GitHub | Zenodo DOI

FPVS Toolbox

Creator and developer | Python | 2026
Package for FPVS data processing, analysis, and figure creation. It supports BioSemi .bdf files and produces outputs for downstream analysis in JASP, R, and SAS.
GitHub | Zenodo DOI

Publications

Murphy, Z., Kemp, J., & Vandenheever, D. (2026). Exploring Brain Activity in Novice Athletes During Closed and Open Skills in Table Tennis. Journal of Motor Behavior, 1-12. DOI

Vandenheever, D., Davidson, H., Kemp, J., Murphy, Z., Kujawa, A., Shi, J., Nadorff, M. R., Bates-Brantley, K., & Sidwell, M. (2025). Exploring facial expression processing with fast periodic visual stimulation and diverse stimuli. Brain and Cognition, 189, 106338. DOI

Vandenheever, D., Davidson, H., Kemp, J., Murphy, Z., Kujawa, A., Shi, J., Nadorff, M. R., Bates-Brantley, K., & Sidwell, M. (2025). Preliminary evidence for anxiety-linked neural sensitivity to emotional faces using fast periodic visual stimulation. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 214, 113212. DOI

Preprints

Murphy, Z., & Vandenheever, D. (2026). Exploring Category Change Neural Responses Using Semantically Similar Stimuli With Fast Periodic Visual Stimulation. Preprint. DOI

Teaching and Academic Service

  • 2026 | Member, Bagley College of Engineering Strategic Planning Committee, Mississippi State University
  • 2026 | Participant, Preparing Future Faculty Program, Mississippi State University
  • 2025 | Co-instructor, Senior Seminar in Agricultural Engineering, Mississippi State University

Technical Expertise

Programming and software development: Python, R, MATLAB, PySide6, graphical user interface development, parallel processing, reproducible analysis workflows, and Git/GitHub.

EEG and cognitive neuroscience: FPVS paradigm design; EEG data acquisition, analysis, and visualization; BioSemi ActiveTwo setup and troubleshooting across hundreds of participant sessions.

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