Research Funding

  • March 1, 2019 - February 29, 2024 - Targeting the Cancer Glycocalyx, Co-Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA227942
  • February 1, 2019 - January 31, 2024 - Reorienting the Glioblastoma Microenvironment to Respond to Immunotherapy, Co-Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NINDS, Sponsor Award ID: R01NS109911
  • February 9, 2018 - January 31, 2023 - Tissue Tension, RANK and Breast Cancer Risk, Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA222508
  • September 22, 2015 - August 31, 2020 - ECM geometrical and mechanical properties modulate RTK signaling, Co-Principal Investigator. Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: U01CA202241

Education

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

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

  1. Weaver VM. Mechanobiology: forcing the second act. Mol Biol Cell. 2021 08 19; 32(18):1611-1613.  View on PubMed
  2. Rudnick JA, Monkkonen T, Mar FA, Barnes JM, Starobinets H, Goldsmith J, Roy S, Bustamante Eguiguren S, Weaver VM, Debnath J. Autophagy in stromal fibroblasts promotes tumor desmoplasia and mammary tumorigenesis. Genes Dev. 2021 Jul 01; 35(13-14):963-975.  View on PubMed
  3. Hayward MK, Muncie JM, Weaver VM. Tissue mechanics in stem cell fate, development, and cancer. Dev Cell. 2021 07 12; 56(13):1833-1847.  View on PubMed
  4. Kindberg AA, Srivastava V, Muncie JM, Weaver VM, Gartner ZJ, Bush JO. EPH/EPHRIN regulates cellular organization by actomyosin contractility effects on cell contacts. J Cell Biol. 2021 06 07; 220(6).  View on PubMed
  5. Tharp KM, Higuchi-Sanabria R, Timblin GA, Ford B, Garzon-Coral C, Schneider C, Muncie JM, Stashko C, Daniele JR, Moore AS, Frankino PA, Homentcovschi S, Manoli SS, Shao H, Richards AL, Chen KH, Hoeve JT, Ku GM, Hellerstein M, Nomura DK, Saijo K, Gestwicki J, Dunn AR, Krogan NJ, Swaney DL, Dillin A, Weaver VM. Adhesion-mediated mechanosignaling forces mitohormesis. Cell Metab. 2021 Jul 06; 33(7):1322-1341.e13.  View on PubMed
  6. Hendley AM, Rao AA, Leonhardt L, Ashe S, Smith JA, Giacometti S, Peng XL, Jiang H, Berrios DI, Pawlak M, Li LY, Lee J, Collisson EA, Anderson MS, Fragiadakis GK, Yeh JJ, Ye CJ, Kim GE, Weaver VM, Hebrok M. Single-cell transcriptome analysis defines heterogeneity of the murine pancreatic ductal tree. Elife. 2021 05 19; 10.  View on PubMed
  7. Drain AP, Zahir N, Northey JJ, Zhang H, Huang PJ, Maller O, Lakins JN, Yu X, Leight JL, Alston-Mills BP, Hwang ES, Chen YY, Park CC, Weaver VM. Matrix compliance permits NF-κB activation to drive therapy resistance in breast cancer. J Exp Med. 2021 05 03; 218(5).  View on PubMed
  8. Hayward MK, Weaver VM. Improving DCIS diagnosis and predictive outcome by applying artificial intelligence. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer. 2021 08; 1876(1):188555.  View on PubMed
  9. Metcalf KJ, Alazzeh A, Werb Z, Weaver VM. Leveraging microenvironmental synthetic lethalities to treat cancer. J Clin Invest. 2021 03 15; 131(6).  View on PubMed
  10. Muncie JM, Weaver VM. Membrane Tension Locks In Pluripotency. Cell Stem Cell. 2021 02 04; 28(2):175-176.  View on PubMed
  11. Hayward MK, Louise Jones J, Hall A, King L, Ironside AJ, Nelson AC, Shelley Hwang E, Weaver VM. Derivation of a nuclear heterogeneity image index to grade DCIS. Comput Struct Biotechnol J. 2020; 18:4063-4070.  View on PubMed
  12. Barkovskaya A, Buffone A, Žídek M, Weaver VM. Proteoglycans as Mediators of Cancer Tissue Mechanics. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2020; 8:569377.  View on PubMed
  13. Maller O, Drain AP, Barrett AS, Borgquist S, Ruffell B, Zakharevich I, Pham TT, Gruosso T, Kuasne H, Lakins JN, Acerbi I, Barnes JM, Nemkov T, Chauhan A, Gruenberg J, Nasir A, Bjarnadottir O, Werb Z, Kabos P, Chen YY, Hwang ES, Park M, Coussens LM, Nelson AC, Hansen KC, Weaver VM. Tumour-associated macrophages drive stromal cell-dependent collagen crosslinking and stiffening to promote breast cancer aggression. Nat Mater. 2021 04; 20(4):548-559.  View on PubMed
  14. Muncie JM, Ayad NME, Lakins JN, Xue X, Fu J, Weaver VM. Mechanical Tension Promotes Formation of Gastrulation-like Nodes and Patterns Mesoderm Specification in Human Embryonic Stem Cells. Dev Cell. 2020 12 21; 55(6):679-694.e11.  View on PubMed
  15. Northey JJ, Barrett AS, Acerbi I, Hayward MK, Talamantes S, Dean IS, Mouw JK, Ponik SM, Lakins JN, Huang PJ, Wu J, Shi Q, Samson S, Keely PJ, Mukhtar RA, Liphardt JT, Shepherd JA, Hwang ES, Chen YY, Hansen KC, Littlepage LE, Weaver VM. Stiff stroma increases breast cancer risk by inducing the oncogene ZNF217. J Clin Invest. 2020 11 02; 130(11):5721-5737.  View on PubMed
  16. Weaver VM, Bissell MJ. Zena Werb (1945-2020): Mourning the loss of a tissue microenvironment icon. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 11 10; 117(45):27759-27760.  View on PubMed
  17. Barcellos-Hoff MH, Weaver VM. In Memoriam - Zena Werb 1945-2020. J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia. 2020 09; 25(3):179-180.  View on PubMed
  18. Jiang H, Torphy RJ, Steiger K, Hongo H, Ritchie AJ, Kriegsmann M, Horst D, Umetsu SE, Joseph NM, McGregor K, Pishvaian MJ, Blais EM, Lu B, Li M, Hollingsworth M, Stashko C, Volmar K, Yeh JJ, Weaver VM, Wang ZJ, Tempero MA, Weichert W, Collisson EA. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma progression is restrained by stromal matrix. J Clin Invest. 2020 09 01; 130(9):4704-4709.  View on PubMed
  19. Alsamman S, Christenson SA, Yu A, Ayad NME, Mooring MS, Segal JM, Hu JK, Schaub JR, Ho SS, Rao V, Marlow MM, Turner SM, Sedki M, Pantano L, Ghoshal S, Ferreira DDS, Ma HY, Duwaerts CC, Espanol-Suner R, Wei L, Newcomb B, Mileva I, Canals D, Hannun YA, Chung RT, Mattis AN, Fuchs BC, Tager AM, Yimlamai D, Weaver VM, Mullen AC, Sheppard D, Chen JY. Targeting acid ceramidase inhibits YAP/TAZ signaling to reduce fibrosis in mice. Sci Transl Med. 2020 08 19; 12(557).  View on PubMed
  20. Piersma B, Hayward MK, Weaver VM. Fibrosis and cancer: A strained relationship. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer. 2020 04; 1873(2):188356.  View on PubMed

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