Professor Atherton’s past work has focused on the identification of central mechanisms regulating metabolism in human musculoskeletal tissues, and where appropriate, using more tractable in vitro cell or where appropriate, in vivo animal models. Combining molecular biology, stable isotope methodologies and detailed in vivo human physiology, Professor Atherton has been a key part of a team that has discovered a number of fundamental parameters that govern alterations in protein metabolism with age and disease.