He is the principal investigator of a NIAMS-funded research project that seeks to improve understanding of the mechanisms by which mechanical signals affect muscle mass. Dr. Hornberger’s lab has identified several proteins in muscle tissue that are altered in response to mechanical stimulation, and the STAR award will enable him to investigate the role these proteins may play in hypertrophy—an increase in the size of skeletal muscle due to growth in the size of the component skeletal muscle cells. In addition, he will use the STAR funding to expand his research by identifying and characterizing proteins and biological mechanisms involved in muscle loss, or atrophy.