Curriculum Vitae
Download PDFEducation
Ph.D. Candidate, Biomedical Engineering
University of Michigan · 2023–present · M.S. 2025
B.A., Cognitive Neuroscience, magna cum laude
Washington University in St. Louis · 2019–2023 · Minors in Computer Science and Biomedical Data Science
Research
Cortical Neural Prosthetics Lab and Draelos Lab
University of Michigan · 2023–present
- Built Freebie, a real-time markerless hand-tracking system for non-human primates: six synchronized cameras, multi-camera GPU pose inference, and real-time streaming integrated with neural recording.
- Developing real-time Bayesian optimization of functional electrical stimulation, driven by live hand tracking.
- Recording intracortical and EMG signals and decoding finger movement, working toward brain-controlled stimulation of the hand.
- Collecting a free-behavior dataset of synchronized neural, EMG and video recordings.
Laboratory of Neural Engineering and Control
Columbia University · Amazon–SURE Fellow · 2022
Predicted mouse behavior from neuromodulator dynamics with logistic regression and LSTMs.
Hengen Lab
Washington University in St. Louis · 2021–2023
Decoded arousal state from single-neuron spike trains across sleep and wake with XGBoost and deep networks.
Leuthardt Lab
Washington University School of Medicine · 2020–2021
Applied machine learning and graph theory to patient fMRI to predict glioblastoma survival.
Publications
Joseph J., et al. Freebie: A Multi-Camera System for Real-Time Markerless Hand Tracking in Non-Human Primates. bioRxiv, 2026.
Ward A., … Joseph J., et al. Direct motor point functional electrical stimulation confers chronic fatigue resistance and improved finger individuation in an in vivo large animal model. In submission.
Ceradini M., … Joseph J., et al. Evaluating and explaining transformers for sequence-based online and offline neural decoding. In submission.
Lee O., … Joseph J., et al. Stable control of continuous finger movements from implanted electromyography (EMG) electrodes. In submission.
Kelberman M., … Joseph J., et al. Evaluating direct motor point targeted functional electrical stimulation in a non-human primate for specific and fatigue-resistant control. In preparation.
Presentations
A Multi-Camera Setup for Real-Time Markerless Non-Human Primate Hand Tracking. Neuroscience 2026.
A multi-camera setup for real-time markerless tracking during functional electrical stimulation. Neuroscience 2024.
Decoding arousal state information from spike train recordings in freely moving mice. Neuroscience 2022.
Using cerebellar data to predict cortical changes in GBMs. MO-LSAMP 2021.
Skills
Real-time systems — improv, BRAND, Redis, Blackrock Neurotech NSP, hardware synchronization
Neural interfaces — Utah arrays, intramuscular EMG, functional electrical stimulation, decoding
Machine learning — pose estimation, GPU inference, Bayesian optimization, TensorFlow, scikit-learn
Languages — Python, MATLAB, Linux shell
Honors
NSF GRFP Honorable Mention · 2024
UM Biomedical Engineering Chair’s Award for Excellence · 2023
Rackham Merit Fellowship · 2023
NIGMS T32 BIDS-TP Fellowship · 2023
Amazon–Columbia SURE Fellowship · 2022
NIH MARC U-STAR Program · 2021–2023