Her group is interested in structure and mechanics of materials inside cells including the nucleus and cytoskeleton. By studying these structures, it is possible to provide insight into cell function and adaptation including stem cell differentiation, cancer metastesis and interactions of cells with nanomaterials. Dahl received her BS degree from Carnegie Mellon in 1998, and Ph. D. degree in Chemical Engineering under the supervision of Professor Dennis Discher at University of Pennsylvania in 2004. She performed her postdoctoral fellowship in Cell Biology at Johns Hopkins University before joing Carnegie Mellon in 2007. She is a recipient of a Whiteaker Fellowship and NIH Postdorctoral Fellowship for her training. She received an NSF CAREER award as well as a Young Investigator Award from the World Congress of Biomechanics.