Dr Thomas Pace is a Lecturer in the Mental Health and Neuroscience Postgraduate Programs and a researcher in the Healthy Brain Ageing Research Program at the Thompson Institute. He is a cognitive neuroscientist specialising in multimodal neuroimaging, metacognition, mental imagery, and dementia risk reduction.

Thomas's research investigates how the ageing brain monitors its own cognitive processes, known as metacognition, and how lifestyle interventions can improve brain health and reduce dementia risk. His recent work in Cerebral Cortex revealed neural oscillatory markers of domain-specific metacognitive processing and age-related compensation, using combined psychophysics and EEG. Building on this, he established UniSC's simultaneous EEG-fMRI (sEEG-fMRI) neuroimaging platform, and is leading the META study, a university first sEEG-fMRI investigation, which will map the spatiotemporal dynamics of metacognition.

Thomas also manages the Thompson Institute's EEG Laboratory, where he trains researchers across the Institute in neurophysiological methods. In 2025, he was awarded the Thompson Institute Research Excellence Award.

Thomas coordinates postgraduate courses within the Mental Health and Neuroscience program, including Neuroimaging Advances in Mental Health, and supervises Honours, postgraduate research, and PhD students. He serves on the Thompson Institute Education and Training Committee and co-founded SYNAPSE (Supporting Young Neuroscientists in Academia through Peer Support and Education), the Institute's first professional development group for early career researchers and HDR students. Nationally, Thomas contributes to the Australian Association of Gerontology's Student and Early Career Group working party.

Prior to his lectureship, Thomas was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Thompson Institute. Before joining UniSC, Thomas worked as a Research Assistant at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), where he contributed to research on habits and cognitive flexibility in ageing and delivered a physical activity intervention for older adults with subjective cognitive decline.

Thomas completed his PhD in Psychology at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), where his doctoral research combined psychophysics and EEG to investigate the neural basis of mental imagery and attention.