Valerie M. Weaver, PhD
Professor & Director, Center for Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration & Co-Director Bay Area Center for Physical Sciences and Oncology
Cancer Center Program Memberships
Cancer ImmunologyEducation
University of Waterloo, Canada, B.Sc., 1985, Chemistry/Biochemistry
University of Ottawa, Canada, B.Sc. Honors, 1986, Biochemistry (Summa Cum Laude)
University of Ottawa, Canada, Ph.D., 1992, Biochemistry
Apoptosis Research Group, NRC, Ottawa, Canada, 1992-1994, Postdoctoral Fellow
Life Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 1994-1998, Postdoctoral Fellow
Professional Experience
-
1999-2006
Assistant Professor, Pathology, UPenn, Philadelphia, PA -
1999-2006
Member, Institute for Medicine and Engineering, UPenn, Philadelphia, PA -
2007-2010
Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Bioengineering, UPenn, Philadelphia, PA -
2006-2010
Associate Professor, Departments of Surgery and Anatomy, UCSF, San Francisco, CA -
2009-2010
Associate Professor, Department of Bioengin & Therapeutic Sci., UCSF, San Francisco, CA -
2006-Present
Director, Center for Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration, Dept of Surgery, UCSF -
2009-Present
Co-Director, Bay Area Center for Physical Sciences and Oncology, UCSF/UCBerkeley -
2010-Present
Professor, Depts of Surgery, Anatomy, and Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, UCSF
Honors & Awards
- 1986
University of Ottawa Gold Medal Highest Academic Standing Science - 1986
Society of Chemical Industry Prize - 1986
Alumni & Faculty Plaque Biochemistry - 1987
Mary Eccelstone Research Award Wyeth Canadian Society of Nutrition Sciences - 1988
American Institute of Nutrition Research Award Proctor & Gamble Graduate student award - 1996
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Achievement Award - 2000-01
ACS-New Investigator Pilot Project Award, UPenn Cancer Center Grant - 2001-05
DOD Career Development Award - 2002
International Society of Differentiation Young Investigator Travel Award - 2003
ASCB Co-Chair Mini Symposium ECM & Cancer - 2004
AACR Co-Chair Major Symposium Reversibility of Tumors - 2004
Co-Organizer HOX and Mammary Gland Workshop - 2004-10
DOD Scholar Award - 2005
Chair Engineering Cell Biology Symposium Model Systems for Complex Behaviors - 2006
Co-Chair AACR Educational Session Organotypic Cancer Models - 2007
Co-organizer, Conference on Engineering and Cell Biology - 2007
Co-organizer TUMIC conference - 2007
Chair and speaker AACR Cancer Therapy Symposium on Tumor Microenvironment - 2008
Plenary Speaker Huntsman Cancer Retreat - 2009
Co-Organizer Institute for Regenerative Medicine Retreat - 2010
Speaker at The National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Tumor Microenvironment Network (TMEN) (2010), Speaker at Joint Metastasis Research Society - AACR Conference - 2010
ASCB Co-Chair Mini Symp 50th Anniversary Meeting
Selected Publications
- Piersma B, Hayward MK, Weaver VM. Fibrosis and cancer: A strained relationship. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer. 2020 Apr; 1873(2):188356.
View on PubMed - Ayad NME, Weaver VM. Tension in tumour cells keeps metabolism high. Nature. 2020 02; 578(7796):517-518.
View on PubMed - Sahai E, Astsaturov I, Cukierman E, DeNardo DG, Egeblad M, Evans RM, Fearon D, Greten FR, Hingorani SR, Hunter T, Hynes RO, Jain RK, Janowitz T, Jorgensen C, Kimmelman AC, Kolonin MG, Maki RG, Powers RS, Puré E, Ramirez DC, Scherz-Shouval R, Sherman MH, Stewart S, Tlsty TD, Tuveson DA, Watt FM, Weaver V, Weeraratna AT, Werb Z. A framework for advancing our understanding of cancer-associated fibroblasts. Nat Rev Cancer. 2020 03; 20(3):174-186.
View on PubMed - Buffone A, Weaver VM. Don't sugarcoat it: How glycocalyx composition influences cancer progression. J Cell Biol. 2020 Jan 06; 219(1).
View on PubMed - Muncie JM, Falcón-Banchs R, Lakins JN, Sohn LL, Weaver VM. Patterning the Geometry of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Colonies on Compliant Substrates to Control Tissue-Level Mechanics. J Vis Exp. 2019 09 28; (151).
View on PubMed - Zheng Y, Xue X, Shao Y, Wang S, Esfahani SN, Li Z, Muncie JM, Lakins JN, Weaver VM, Gumucio DL, Fu J. Controlled modelling of human epiblast and amnion development using stem cells. Nature. 2019 09; 573(7774):421-425.
View on PubMed - Eliazer S, Muncie JM, Christensen J, Sun X, D'Urso RS, Weaver VM, Brack AS. Wnt4 from the Niche Controls the Mechano-Properties and Quiescent State of Muscle Stem Cells. Cell Stem Cell. 2019 11 07; 25(5):654-665.e4.
View on PubMed - Ayad NME, Kaushik S, Weaver VM. Tissue mechanics, an important regulator of development and disease. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2019 08 19; 374(1779):20180215.
View on PubMed - Kai F, Drain AP, Weaver VM. The Extracellular Matrix Modulates the Metastatic Journey. Dev Cell. 2019 05 06; 49(3):332-346.
View on PubMed - Libby AR, Joy DA, So PL, Mandegar MA, Muncie JM, Mendoza-Camacho FN, Weaver VM, Conklin BR, McDevitt TC. Spatiotemporal mosaic self-patterning of pluripotent stem cells using CRISPR interference. Elife. 2018 10 09; 7.
View on PubMed - Barnes JM, Kaushik S, Bainer RO, Sa JK, Woods EC, Kai F, Przybyla L, Lee M, Lee HW, Tung JC, Maller O, Barrett AS, Lu KV, Lakins JN, Hansen KC, Obernier K, Alvarez-Buylla A, Bergers G, Phillips JJ, Nam DH, Bertozzi CR, Weaver VM. A tension-mediated glycocalyx-integrin feedback loop promotes mesenchymal-like glioblastoma. Nat Cell Biol. 2018 10; 20(10):1203-1214.
View on PubMed - Tharp KM, Weaver VM. Modeling Tissue Polarity in Context. J Mol Biol. 2018 09 28; 430(19):3613-3628.
View on PubMed - Sampayo RG, Toscani AM, Rubashkin MG, Thi K, Masullo LA, Violi IL, Lakins JN, Cáceres A, Hines WC, Coluccio Leskow F, Stefani FD, Chialvo DR, Bissell MJ, Weaver VM, Simian M. Fibronectin rescues estrogen receptor a from lysosomal degradation in breast cancer cells. J Cell Biol. 2018 08 06; 217(8):2777-2798.
View on PubMed - Muncie JM, Weaver VM. The Physical and Biochemical Properties of the Extracellular Matrix Regulate Cell Fate. Curr Top Dev Biol. 2018; 130:1-37.
View on PubMed - Samson S, Northey JJ, Plaks V, Baas C, Dean I, LaBarge MA, Goga A, Van't Veer LJ, Weaver VM. New Horizons in Advocacy Engaged Physical Sciences and Oncology Research. Trends Cancer. 2018 04; 4(4):260-264.
View on PubMed - Northcott JM, Dean IS, Mouw JK, Weaver VM. Feeling Stress: The Mechanics of Cancer Progression and Aggression. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2018; 6:17.
View on PubMed - Ilkhanizadeh S, Sabelström H, Miroshnikova YA, Frantz A, Zhu W, Idilli A, Lakins JN, Schmidt C, Quigley DA, Fenster T, Yuan E, Trzeciak JR, Saxena S, Lindberg OR, Mouw JK, Burdick JA, Magnitsky S, Berger MS, Phillips JJ, Arosio D, Sun D, Weaver VM, Weiss WA, Persson AI. Antisecretory Factor-Mediated Inhibition of Cell Volume Dynamics Produces Antitumor Activity in Glioblastoma. Mol Cancer Res. 2018 05; 16(5):777-790.
View on PubMed - Takai K, Drain AP, Lawson DA, Littlepage LE, Karpuj M, Kessenbrock K, Le A, Inoue K, Weaver VM, Werb Z. Discoidin domain receptor 1 (DDR1) ablation promotes tissue fibrosis and hypoxia to induce aggressive basal-like breast cancers. Genes Dev. 2018 02 01; 32(3-4):244-257.
View on PubMed - Ramakrishnan N, Sreeja KK, Roychoudhury A, Eckmann DM, Ayyaswamy PS, Baumgart T, Pucadyil T, Patil S, Weaver VM, Radhakrishnan R. Excess area dependent scaling behavior of nano-sized membrane tethers. Phys Biol. 2018 01 11; 15(2):026002.
View on PubMed - Woods EC, Kai F, Barnes JM, Pedram K, Pickup MW, Hollander MJ, Weaver VM, Bertozzi CR. A bulky glycocalyx fosters metastasis formation by promoting G1 cell cycle progression. Elife. 2017 12 21; 6.
View on PubMed