My laboratory focuses on understanding the biochemical and molecular basis of protein degradation during muscle atrophy in aging or disease (e.g. diabetes, cancer). We are specifically interested in the roles of certain key factors that trigger proteolysis in this process because their inhibition could be of major therapeutic promise. My laboratory masters two areas in biology, the biochemistry of the ubiquitin-proteasome system and muscle biology/physiology. Through the development of new methodologies, we initiated distinct lines of investigation to clarify gene effects in atrophying muscles