Valerie M. Weaver
瓦莱丽·韦弗
PhD
Professor, Department of Surgery; Director, Center for Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration外科学系教授；生物工程与组织再生中心主任
👥Biography 个人简介
Valerie Weaver is a pioneer in tumor mechanobiology at UCSF, demonstrating that physical properties of the extracellular matrix—particularly tissue stiffness—drive malignant transformation and cancer progression. Her work revealed that increased matrix rigidity activates integrin signaling to promote oncogenic growth, fundamentally linking biophysics to cancer biology.
🧪Research Fields 研究领域
🎓Key Contributions 主要贡献
Matrix Stiffness and Malignant Transformation
Demonstrated that elevated ECM stiffness activates integrin-FAK-PI3K signaling to promote aberrant breast epithelial cell growth, establishing tissue mechanics as a driver of malignancy.
Mechanosensing in Cancer Progression
Identified how cancer cells sense and respond to altered matrix compliance through Rho-GTPase cytoskeletal tension, linking mechanosensing to invasion and metastasis.
3D Organotypic Culture Models
Developed physiologically relevant 3D culture systems to study how ECM composition and mechanical properties regulate normal and malignant epithelial behavior.
Representative Works 代表性著作
Matrix crosslinking forces tumor progression by enhancing integrin signaling
Cell (2009)
Showed that LOX-mediated collagen crosslinking increases breast tissue stiffness, activates integrin signaling, and drives malignant transformation.
Extracellular matrix stiffness and composition jointly regulate the induction of malignant phenotypes in mammary epithelium
Nature Materials (2012)
Demonstrated that matrix mechanics and biochemistry cooperate to regulate malignant transformation, revealing the integrative nature of ECM signals.
Mechanosensing is critical for axon growth in the developing brain
Nature Neuroscience (2012)
Extended mechanobiology principles beyond cancer to show mechanical cues guide axon pathfinding, demonstrating broad physiological relevance of force sensing.
🏆Awards & Recognition 奖项与荣誉
📄Data Sources 数据来源
Last updated: 2026-01-15 | All information from publicly available academic sources
Related Experts 相关专家
Lewis Cantley
Weill Cornell Medicine
Craig Thompson
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Matthew Vander Heiden
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Navdeep Chandel
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
关注 瓦莱丽·韦弗 的研究动态
Follow Valerie M. Weaver's research updates
留下邮箱，当我们发布与 Valerie M. Weaver（University of California, San Francisco）相关的新研究或访谈时，我们会通知你。
Explore More Experts
Discover the researchers shaping the future of cancer treatment