Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) awarded $441,375 to the University of California, Berkeley effective August 1, 2026, through April 30, 2031, under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859). This Project Grant supports fundamental research in cellular mechanobiology—specifically investigating how cells sense, process, and respond to mechanical signals within their extracellular matrix microenvironment. The research builds upon the principal investigator's 20+ years of contributions to the field and leverages prior discoveries about contractile cellular structures and their roles in cell polarity and motility. The primary deliverables include novel research findings, subcellular measurement technologies, and biomaterial engineering tools that advance understanding of mechanotransduction and its implications for tumor biology, stem cell behavior, and therapeutic development.

The project addresses a critical gap in current mechanobiology research by translating findings from traditional two-dimensional culture systems into more physiologically relevant three-dimensional tissue-mimetic environments where mechanical force profiles vary across multiple timescales. The work focuses on investigating the differential roles of cofilin-1 as an actin remodeling protein and related mechanisms in three-dimensional contexts, with anticipated outputs including peer-reviewed publications, experimental protocols, and validated biomaterial platforms that will advance the field's understanding of how cellular mechanotransduction operates in tissue-like settings.