The Weaver lab is multi-disciplinary lab dedicated toward understanding the role of mechanical force on breast cancer progression and human embryonic stem cell (hESC) differentiation. Forces exerted upon and by the cell are mediated by the extracellular matrix (ECM), which varies in structure and stiffness throughout the body. Most cell culture work is done on tissue culture plastic which is several orders of magnitude stiffer than physiological ECM stiffness. Culturing cells on substrates closer to their physiological stiffness may improve survival and differentiation efficiency by more closely mimicking their physiological niche. My work focuses on characterizing and differentiating hESCs grown on stiffness-tuned polyacrylamide gels.