Christian Noble, a first-year PhD student in the Kopinke lab, recently authored his first manuscript as the primary author. His significant discovery indicates that this GLP-1 drug might negatively impact muscles after injury by promoting fat formation within the muscle and hindering muscle regeneration. Christian had the opportunity to present his research at the New Directions in Biology and Disease of Skeletal Muscle Conference in June 2026. This study was done in collabor

Xinyue Liu, a third-year PhD candidate, recently wrote and submitted her first and second first-author manuscripts to bioRxiv! These are currently under review but catch an early sneak peek before they are officially published. Click on each link below. FAP-intrinsic Hedgehog signaling controls intramuscular adipogenesis, fibrosis, and myofiber regeneration | bioRxiv: Xinyue found that FAPs are the primary cellular mediators of Hedgehog signaling during muscle repair, using

Hailey Jones concluded the second year of her PhD on a positive note! She was recently awarded the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Team T32 Training Grant. As this is a team-science oriented T32, Hailey and Yancey Williams from Kyle Allen's lab chose to initiate a collaboration due to their aligned research interests, and both were awarded this T32. We are very eager to see where her work leads her.

PhD Candidate in the Kopinke Lab, Kiara Fierman, won big at the Annual University of Florida Neuromuscular Plasticity Symposium, organized by the UF Neuromuscular Plasticity Training Program and the Breathing REsearch And THErapeutics (BREATHE) program. As an NMPT T32 trainee, Kiara had the opportunity to share her work on "The Role of Hedgehog Signaling After Neuromuscular Damage" with the NMPT and BREATHE community through a 3-minute datablitz, followed by a poster sessio

Jacob Barretto, a second-year PhD student, recently clinched 1st place in the poster competition at the University of California San Diego Center for Circadian Biology Symposium. This prestigious event brought together some of the brightest minds in the field, and Jacob's success is a testament to his hard work and dedication. During the symposium, Jacob had the opportunity to present his groundbreaking research on the role of the circadian clock in mesenchymal stem cell fate

Thrilled to share our new study in collaboration with Dr. Terence Ryan and his (former) student Tori. We find that intramuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) directly impairs limb muscle function in PAD/CLTI and that preventing IMAT formation improves functional outcomes in experimental PAD.

In collaboration with Dr. Gretchen Meyer, second year PhD student Hailey Jones in the Kopinke Lab just published her first paper in the...

Our most recent publication was selected as the cover of the August edition at Cell Reports. In addition, the story was featured by UF...

This summer, Celeste Cifuentes took part in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program, where she joined the Kopinke Lab...

We’re excited to announce our new Cell Reports paper, “Intramuscular adipose tissue restricts functional muscle recovery,” where we...

We had an exciting visit from talented students who came to UF to participate in the Florida Regional Junior Science and Humanities...

We have known now for a long time that intramuscular fat (IMAT), adipose tissue that infiltrates and replaces our muscle tissue with age...

Wow, time flies...another year is almost done! To celebrate the end of the year and start the holiday season, the Makki and Kopinke labs...

Wonderful news! I got promoted to Associate Prof with tenure! I am thrilled to share this honor with my colleagues & friends, Drs. Nikhil...

Hot off the press! Our newest manuscript assessed and compared intramuscular fat formation, fibrosis, & muscle regeneration in females...

We started an exciting new collaboration with Dr. Terence Ryan, exploring the impact of fatty fibrosis in chronic limb-threatening...

We welcomed 4 new people to the lab in the last couple of months. Sushant is a new postdoc from India, Xinyue a new grad student in the...

Wow, 2023 is almost over, and what a year it has been! Lots of changes to the lab (my 1st student graduating and new people starting...

Wohoo!!! Ale's paper finally got published in Nature Communications. Here, we define the Dhh as the key Hedgehog ligand that balances the...