Our laboratory actively studies disease processes that disrupt normal metabolism. Cachexia and obesity with its comorbidities represent entities on opposite ends of the same metabolic spectrum. Cachexia is a hypercatabolic state found in chronic diseases such as infection (HIV, tuberculosis, etc.), rheumatologic illnesses (rheumatoid arthritis), heart failure, and cancer. These heightened inflammatory states have significant adipose and muscle tissue wasting driving weight loss over short periods despite normal overall food intake. Obesity, an anabolic state, increases adipose tissue and body weight and is associated with many diseases including metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Treatment for both of these syndromes is limited, with medications rarely producing sustainable benefits. Using protein biochemistry, cell-based assays, genetically engineered mouse models, and patient-centered clinical studies our group is trying to identify pathways molecules that are altered in cachexia and obesity.