My interests are in understanding the mechanical principles that drive major cellular life processes through the design and engineering of novel biomimetic systems. To this end, I develop simplified and tractable experimental models of the mechanical machinery within the cell with the goal of reproducing complex cellular behavior, such as cell division and cell migration. I then combine these ‘bottom-up’ experimental models with concepts from soft matter physics to gain a fundamental understanding of the influence of mechanics on cell and tissue behavior. In parallel, I hope to identify new design principles from biology which can be used to create novel technologies.