Dr. Baker's research in rheumatology focuses on body composition, skeletal muscle health, obesity, metabolic health, disease activity assessment, and disease progression among patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. His work is supported largely by VA grants from Clinical Science Research & Development (R&D) and Rehabilitation R&D. Ongoing projects include work to understand the role of adipokines in the assessment of metabolic health and phenotype in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, the assessment of skeletal muscle deficits using magnetic resonance spectroscopy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, and the evaluation of benefit of incentivized exercise and other interventions to reduce pain and disability in patients with different forms of arthritis.