She received her Ph.D. in physics from Harvard studying the rheology of actin networks in the laboratory of Dr. David Weitz. She did her postdoctoral work with Dr. Clare M. Waterman at the Scripps Research Institute where she developed quantitative tools to measure traction stresses in adherent cells. Her lab has been funded by a National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award, Fellowships from the Alfred. P. Sloan Foundation, David and Lucille Packard Foundation, American Asthma Foundation, and Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Defense Army Research Office. Her laboratory studies the biophysical regulation of cell adhesion, motion, and shape by cytoskeletal assemblies.