Heart attacks are one of the leading causes of death for both men and women worldwide, and current treatment options are limited by the quantity of available tissue.  For a long term solution, researchers have now turned to stem cells and tissue engineering strategies.  My research focuses on the development and characterization of directed 3D culture of embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes in protein engineered hydrogels for cardiac repair.  The complexity of cardiac tissue presents the need for controlled cell differentiation and directed cellular organization, and we hope to accomplish this by altering the physical and chemical properties of the hydrogels and applying mechanical stimulation to the scaffold.