Macauley
Smith
Breault

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Home: Welcome

Academic Experience

Home: Education

Ph.D. Candidate in Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

August 2015 - Present

See links for details on research.

Society for the Neural Control of Movement Scholarship (2020)
Achievement Reward for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholar (2017-2019)
L'Oréal USA For Women in Science Program's Changing the Face of STEM (CTFS) Mentoring Grant recipient (2017-2020)
The George M.L. Sommerman Engineering Graduate Teaching Assistant Award Finalist (2018)
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) Honorable Mention (2017)

Bachelor of Science in Honors Mathematics and Physical Science

August 2011 - May 2015

Summa Cum Laude, Dana Scholar, Dean’s List, Pi Mu Epsilon, Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Pi Sigma

Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Honorable Mention (2014)
Novartis Endowed Science Scholars Program Award (2014)
The Robert W. and Edythe M. Mull Award for Excellence in Mathematics (2014)
The Wesley S. Mitman Mathematical Prize (2013)

Associate of Science in General Science and Pre-Medicine, Raritan Valley Community College

August 2008 - May 2011

Magna Cum Laude, Dean’s List, Phi Theta Kappa

Completed high school and A.S. in four years through The Academy for Health & Medical Sciences
Nota Bene (2010)

About Me

Macauley Breault received a B.S. degree in honors mathematics and physical science from Muhlenberg College, Allentown PA, in 2015. She is now a Ph.D. candidate in Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD. Her research interests include brain-machine interfaces, sensorimotor control, and chronic pain. Her work involves constructing decoding models and identifying neural correlates between brain and behavior. She is a second consecutive winner of the Achievement Reward for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholarship as well as a third consecutive recipient of the L’Oréal USE for Women in Science “Changing the Face of STEM” grant used to fund her annual outreach event for local Girl Scouts in Baltimore.

When not working, Macauley enjoys spending time with her family, dog (pictured) and cat, hiking, snowboarding, horseback riding, gardening, and cooking. Her favorite meal to make is carbonara.

Home: Bio

Research Experience

March 2016 - Present

Ph.D. Candidate, Johns Hopkins University

Dissertation: The effect of internal states that affect brain and movement

Advisor: Sridevi Sarma

Committee: Amy Bastian, Vikram Chib, Kathleen Cullen

October 2015 - March 2016

Rotation project, Johns Hopkins University

Advisors: Noah Cowan and James Knierim

Worked on a collaborative project between Noah Cowan and James Knierim recording place cells in the hippocampus of rats during active locomotion in a virtual reality dome.
Designed an algorithm and accompanying GUI to extract firing fields from recorded place cells using an initial self-estimation with the capability to manually edit fields and parameters during post-processing data analysis.
Trained rats to perform a task within a virtual reality dome and desensitized intimidating environment.
Assembled a 48-channel hyperdrive to enable hippocampal recordings.
Assisted in surgically implanting my neural recording device into a rat, which collected indispensable data over multiple months and experiments and results in a Nature publication.

June 2014 - August 2014

Robotics Institute Summer Scholar, Carnegie Mellon University

Advisor: Cameron Riviere

Worked under Cameron Riviere in The Robotics Institute
Integrated force control into a parallel-wire manipulator robot for minimally invasive genre therapy heart procedures.
Developed hybrid force/position control architecture using C++, Java, and Arduino and control theory.
Derived and implemented an optimal tension distribution technique to overcome the actuation redundancy for safety implementation (in MATLAB).
Instrumented force sensors for an auto-calibration procedure to calculate robot geometry necessary for position accuracy in situ.
Presented at RISS 2015 Poster session and published by RISS working journal.
Published in multiple conference proceedings.

May 2013 - August 2013

NSF REU Summer Scholar, Lehigh University

Advisor: Himanshu Jain

Worked under Himanshu Jain in the International Materials Institute for New Functionality in Glass
Launched research into the development of an injectable form of bioactive glass for minimally invasive clinical application.
Evaluated literature and proposed various options for delivery.
Designed and conducted an initial exploration of novel composition.

Home: CV

Teaching Experience

Home: Education

August 2020 - December 2020

Hopkins Engineering Applications & Research Tutorials (HEART) Instructor

Mind over matter: The past, present, and future of brain-computer interfaces, EN.500.111, Taught by Macauley Smith Breault, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Selected to create and teach an original course that introduced students to cutting-edge brain-computer interface research.
Designed weekly lesson plans and activities for two independent sessions of 10 first-year undergraduate students.

July 2020

Teaching Institute

Teaching Academy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

August 2017 - December 2017

Teaching Assistant

Models of the Neuron, EN.580.639, Taught by Raimond Winslow, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Supervised internal activities during lectures of 20 graduate and undergraduate students as the sole teaching assistant.
Created original weekly homework assignments as well as integrative mid-term and final project, which focused on translating lecture material into concrete examples.
Planned and led weekly recitations to highlight key concepts from lectures.
Supported students by holding additional weekly interactive review sessions to promote student participation and collaboration through original application questions.
Recorded and reported students’ qualitative progression.
Nominated for The George M.L. Sommerman Engineering Graduate Teaching Assistant Award based on teaching efforts.

August 2013 - May 2015

Learning Assistant

Physics I and II, PHY 121 & PHY 122, Taught by Jane Flood, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA

Planned and led biweekly workshops of up to 30 students and weekly held office hours.
Attended and oversaw internal activities during class lectures of 80 students.
Coordinated classroom agenda and alerted professor about student concerns at weekly meetings.
Presented teaching strategies at the National College Learning Center Association
29th Annual Conference in Albuquerque, NM and 2015 Northeast regional meeting.

August 2012 - May 2013

Peer Tutor

Physics I and II, PHY 121 & PHY 122, Taught by Adam Clark, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA

Work Experience

June 2015 - August 2015

Associate Engineer, Prosidyan Inc.

Conducted original research related to bioactive glass and calcium phosphate cement at a startup company.
Experienced researcher life in industry.
Assisted and participated in the FDA inspection process undergone by the company.

January 2014 - May 2014

Intern, Hanger Clinic

Interacted with patients who required prosthetic and orthotic devices.
Assisted in the assembly of medical devices.

Home: CV

Projects

Research

At the intersection of data science, neuroscience, and sensorimotor control

Outreach

Advocate for girls and women in STEM

Home: Projects

Research Gallery

Figures that have appeared in my recent publications.

Home: Gallery

Graphic Design

When I am not researching, I exercise my creativity in graphic designs, which have been featured in various outlets across Johns Hopkins University including organizations and labs. I have made my research-related images publically available on SciDraw.