The overarching aim of my laboratory is to elucidate the role of the endocrine system in both health and the development of diseases. A major focus of my research program is elucidating the mechanisms by which steroid hormones and their nuclear receptors regulate physiology and are disrupted during the pathogenesis of diseases. I am particularly interested in revealing the context-specific roles of steroid hormones in regulating stem cell fate and differentiation decisions and the implications for body composition and metabolism. Through this work, I hope to increase our understanding of the important physiological processes that are controlled by hormones and how alterations in hormone levels perturb the body’s homeostasis and cause disease in people. My goal is to apply discoveries we make in the laboratory toward the development of novel therapeutics for a variety of diseases including: diabetes, disorders of muscle mass and function and cancer.