Dr. Cawthon received a doctorate in epidemiology from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Cawthon's current research interests include maintaining mobility in old age; sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss); frailty; the decline of physical function with age;and osteoporosis, particularly in older men. Dr. Cawthon leads several multicenter studies of older adults including MrOS, MOST and SOMMA.

Research Interests

• Maintaining mobility in old age 
• The epidemiology of sarcopenia, frailty and age-related physical decline 
• Translational approaches to studying sarcopenia, frailty and age-related physical decline 
• Osteoporosis in men 
• D3Cr muscle mass 

Selected Publications

1.  Guralnik JM, Cawthon PM, Bhasin S, Fielding R, Magaziner J, Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Vellas B, Clarke L, Lattimer L, Evans W. Limited physician knowledge of sarcopenia: A survey. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2023 May;71(5):1595-1602. 

2. Bhasin S, Cawthon PM, Correa-de Araujo R, Storer TW, Volpi E, Newman AB, Dioh W, Tourette C, Evans WJ, Fielding RA. Optimizing the Design of Clinical Trials to Evaluate the Efficacy of Function-Promoting Therapies. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2023. Jun 16;78(Supplement_1):86-93. PMCID: PMC10272979. 

3. Lenchik L, Mazzoli V, Cawthon PM, Hepple RT, Boutin RD. Muscle Steatosis and Fibrosis in Older Adults, From the AJR Special Series on Imaging of Fibrosis. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2023 Aug 23. Epub ahead of print. 

4. Bauer SR, Parker-Autry C, Lu K, Cummings SR, Hepple RT, Scherzer R, Covinksy K, Cawthon PM. Skeletal Muscle Health, Physical Performance, and Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Older Adults: the Study of Muscle, Mobility and Aging (SOMMA). J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2023 Sep 11:glad218. Epub ahead of print. 

5. Beavers KM, Avery AE, Shankaran M, Evans WJ, Lynch SD, Dwyer C, Howard M, Beavers DP, Weaver AA, Lenchik L, Cawthon PM. Application of the D3-creatine muscle mass assessment tool to a geriatric weight loss trial: A pilot study. J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2023 Oct;14(5):2350-2358. PMCID: PMC10570063. 

6. Andrews JS, Gold LS, Reed MJ, Hough CL, Garcia JM, McClelland RL, Fitzpatrick AL, Covinsky KE, Crane PK, Yaffe K, Cawthon PM. Appendicular Lean Mass, Grip Strength, and the Incidence of Dementia Among Older Adults in the Health ABC Study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2023 Oct 28;78(11):2070-2076. PMCID: PMC10613012. 

7. Cawthon PM, Patel S, Newman AB, Bhasin S, Peng L, Tracy RP, Kizer JR, Lee SJ, Ferrucci L, Ganz P, LeBrasseur NK, Cummings SR. Evaluation of Associations of Growth Differentiation Factor-11, Growth Differentiation Factor-8, and Their Binding Proteins, Follistatin and Follistatin-Like Protein-3, With Measures of Skeletal Muscle Mass, Muscle Strength, and Physical Function in Older Adults. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2023 Oct 28;78(11):2051-2059. PMCID: PMC10613016. 

8. Kirk B, Harrison SL, Zanker J, Burghardt AJ, Orwoll E, Duque G, Cawthon PM. Interactions Between HR-pQCT Bone Density and D3Cr Muscle Mass (or HR-pQCT Bone Structure and HR-pQCT Muscle Density) in Predicting Fractures: The Osteoporotic Fractures in Men study. J Bone Miner Res. 2023 Sep;38(9):1245-1257. PMCID: PMC10528106. 

9. Evans WJ, Cawthon PM. D3Creatine Dilution as a Direct, Non-invasive and Accurate Measurement of Muscle Mass for Aging Research. Calcif Tissue Int. 2024 Jan;114(1):3-8. PMCID: PMC10791786. 

10. Hetherington-Rauth M, Johnson E, Migliavacca E, Parimi N, Langsetmo L, Hepple RT, Grzywinski Y, Corthesy J, Ryan TE, Ferrucci L, Feige JN, Orwoll ES, Cawthon PM. Nutrient Metabolites Associated With Low D3Cr Muscle Mass, Strength, and Physical Performance in Older Men. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2024 Feb 1;79(2):glad217. PMCID: PMC10809040. 

11. Mau T, Barnes HN, Blackwell TL, Kramer PA, Bauer SR, Marcinek DJ, Ramos SV, Forman DE, Toledo FGS, Hepple RT, Kritchevsky SB, Cummings SR, Newman AB, Coen PM, Cawthon PM. Lower muscle mitochondrial energetics is associated with greater phenotypic frailty in older women and men: the Study of Muscle, Mobility and Aging. Geroscience. 2024 Apr;46(2):2409-2424. PMC10828481. 

12. Cawthon PM, Blackwell TL, Kritchevsky SB, Newman AB, Hepple RT, Coen PM, Goodpaster BH, Duchowny K, Hetherington-Rauth M, Mau T, Shankaran M, Hellerstein M, Evans WJ, Cummings SR. Associations between D3Cr muscle mass and MR thigh muscle volume with strength, power, physical performance, fitness, and limitations in older adults in the SOMMA study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. Accepted