Allison is a PhD student in the UC Berkeley - UCSF Graduate Program in Bioengineering. She graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2013 with a B.S. in chemical engineering. During her time at Nebraska she developed micropatterned co-cultures to study cell-cell interactions between breast cancer and stromal cells. Allison joined the Weaver lab in 2015 and is interested in understanding how mechanical forces shape cell behavior within the tumor microenvironment. Specifically, she is focused on how ECM stiffness influences tumor metabolism to promote metastatic progression. Outside of the lab, Allison also loves camping/backpacking and traveling.