I have focused on developing injectable 2-component physical hydrogels for direct cell transplantations. In particular, I expect this hydrogel scaffold can be biocompatible and offer high cell viability because it is composed entirely of two engineered recombinant proteins which self-assembles through physical interactions. For this project, I am researching gelation kinetics for cell encapsulation and the rheological properties of hydrogels which can have an effect on cell viability during injection. In addition, I am also studying the effect of structure and properties of hydrogels on the adhesion between cells and gel, cell migration rate, cell differentiation, and long-term cell viability.