Adam J. Engler is a professor of Bioengineering at UC San Diego and is affiliated with the Material Science and Biomedical Sciences Programs. He also is a resident scientist at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine. His research focuses on how physical properties of the niche influence stem cell function and misregulate muscle function and heart performance during disease and aging. Dr. Engler earned his B.S.E. degree in bioengineering and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and applied mechanics at the University of Pennsylvania in the lab of Dr. Dennis Discher. Dr. Engler then moved to Princeton University's Department of Molecular Biology as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the lab of Dr. Jean Schwarzbauer where his work was funded by the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Engler is the 2008 recipient of the Rupert Timpl and Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Awards from the International Society for Matrix Biology and the Biomedical Engineering Society, respectively. He is also a 2009 NIH Innovator Award recipient, a 2010 Young Investigator Awardee from the Human Frontier Science Program, and a 2013 IDEA Awardee from the Dept. of Defense.