The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) seeks research partners, co-development partners, and/or licensees for hydrogels that can be used in tissue repair. Gels typically exhibit a decrease in mechanical strength (e.g., elastic modulus) upon swelling of the particles. The gels of this technology, however, exhibit an increase in mechanical strength upon swelling. The gels are comprised of a crosslinked polymer matrix dispersed in a crosslinked polymer matrix.