DrOctavia Soegyono

Dr. Octavia Soegyono is a Postdoctoral Research Associate who has been working with Dr. Laura Bradfield since 2025. She is currently working on establishing modern neuroscience techniques such as optogenetics and fibre photometry in the laboratory to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying compulsivity. She previously studied at the University of New South Wales, completing a Bachelor in Psychological Science (Honours) in 2019 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 2025. During her PhD studies, she was awarded funding from the Australian Government Research Training Program (2020-2024) and the UNSW Graduate Research School Development and Research Training Grant (2022, 2024). Her PhD aimed to elucidate the neurobiological mechanisms that enable predictive stimuli to influence decision-making.

Octavia has had the opportunity to present her research at key events both within Australia and internationally, including conferences hosted by the Australian Learning Group (Port Douglas, Australia), Biological Psychiatry Australia (Melbourne, Australia), and the Society for Neuroscience (Chicago, USA). She was awarded the Best Student Presentation at the Australian Learning Group Midyear Conference in 2024 and the Best Talk Award at the Optogenetics Australia Meeting in 2025.