[2][3][4][5][6] Previously, she was an assistant professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University and an associate professor of computer science at the University of Washington, director of Washington's Neurobotics Laboratory, director of the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering.

At University of Washington, her research combined neuroscience and robotics—sometimes referred to by Matsuoka by the portmanteau neurobotics—to create more realistic prosthetics.

[7] During this time, she held the Anna Loomis McCandless Faculty Chair (from 2004),[12] received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2004) and an IEEE Early Career Award in Robotics and Automation (2005), and was nominated for the MacArthur Fellowship (2006), winning and joining the class of 2007.

[7][12] She continued her career at the University of Washington as an associate professor, and is currently working for Apple on wellness related products.

"[7] The MacArthur Foundation characterizes her work as "transforming our understanding of how the central nervous system coordinates musculoskeletal action and of how robotic technology can enhance the mobility of people with manipulation disabilities.