Adam Konopka

Assistant Professor of Medicine, School of Medicine and Public Health

Investigating the interaction of exercise and rapamycin on mTOR signaling, proteostasis, and metabolism.

akonopka@medicine.wisc.edu

(608) 256-1901

Veterans Administration Hosp
2500 Overlook Ter D4243
Madison WI 53705-2254

Dr. Konopka is a faculty member in the Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology within the Department of Medicine. He is an editorial board member for the Journal of Applied Physiology and a member of the Gerontological Society of America, American College of Sports Medicine and American Physiological Society. Dr. Konopka has been selected as a reviewer for several journals including Journal Gerontology: Biological Sciences, Aging Cell, GeroScience, Science Advances, Scientific Reports, and Journal of Physiology.

Ball State University, Muncie, IN – PhD in Human Bioenergetics

Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN – Postdoctoral Fellowship in Diabetes, Nutrition and Endocrinology

Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO – Postdoctoral Fellowship in Aging and Age-Related Disease

Top-Down Proteomics of Skinned Human Muscle Fibers Reveals Proteoform-Resolved Fiber-to-Fiber Variability

Mallory C Wilson, Zhan Gao, Justin R Lopez, Yanlong Zhu, Szczepan S Olszewski, Adam R Konopka, Gary M Diffee, Ying Ge

Journal of mass spectrometry : JMS. 2026 February 23. pmid:41725242, pmc:PMC12926692, doi:10.1002/jms.70040
The Sixth Annual Symposium of the Midwest Aging Consortium

Ines Sturmlechner, Sarah A Ashiqueali, Hélène Martini, Karla Valdivieso, Ana Catarina Franco, Prashanth Guthikonda, Andrew J Dosch, Luis I Prieto, Niels C Asmussen, Amanda S Latham, James T Redden, Ethan A Leitschuh, Douglas G Mashek, João F Passos, Jhonny Rodriguez-Lopez, T Blake Monroe, David A Bernlohr, Paul D Robbins, Bailey A Knopf, Dudley W Lamming, Matthew J Johnston, Holly M Brown-Borg, Spencer A Tye, Timothy W Rhoads, David M Gate, Bennett G Childs, Darren J Baker, Xinna Li, In Hwa Jang, Christina D Camell, Zachary Miller, Hemali Phatnani, Adam R Konopka, Andrew J Haak, Natalia Vanegas-Avendano, Ramya N Akula, Ajinkya R Limkar, William A Ricke, Scott F Leiser, Jacinta Correia, Hua Bai, Szczepan Olszewski, Kenneth L Seldeen, G R Scott Budinger, Luisa C Morales-Nebreda, Deborah R Winter, Shelly K McCrady-Spitzer, Rozalyn M Anderson, Maria M Mihaylova, Mauricio Rojas, Ana L Mora, Nathan K LeBrasseur, Marissa J Schafer

The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences. 2025 December 22. pmid:41429578, pmc:PMC12764364, doi:10.1093/gerona/glaf280
Tissue-Specific Effects of Dietary Protein on Cellular Senescence Are Mediated by Branched-Chain Amino Acids

Mariah F Calubag, Ismail Ademi, Isaac D Grunow, Lucia E Breuer, Reji Babygirija, Penelope Lialios, Sandra M Le, Michelle M Sonsalla, Julia A Illiano, Bailey A Knopf, Fan Xiao, Dennis Minton, Adam R Konopka, David A Harris, Dudley W Lamming

Aging cell. 2025 July 29. pmid:40726002, pmc:PMC12507398, doi:10.1111/acel.70176
Rapamycin Does Not Compromise Exercise-Induced Muscular Adaptations in Female Mice

Christian J Elliehausen, Szczepan S Olszewski, Dennis M Minton, Carolyn G Shult, Aditya R Ailiani, Michaela E Trautman, Reji Babygirija, Dudley W Lamming, Troy A Hornberger, Adam R Konopka

Aging cell. 2025 July 24. pmid:40704394, pmc:PMC12507417, doi:10.1111/acel.70183
Metformin suppresses the mitochondrial and transcriptional response to exercise, revealing a conserved BCL6B-associated angiogenic program

Matthew D Bruss, Christian J Elliehausen, Josef P Clark, Dennis M Minton, Adam R Konopka

Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985). 2025 July 22. pmid:40695624, pmc:PMC12375879, doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00432.2025
Rapamycin does not compromise physical performance or muscle hypertrophy after PoWeR while intermittent rapamycin alleviates glucose disruptions by frequent rapamycin

Christian J Elliehausen, Szczepan S Olszewski, Carolyn G Shult, Aditya R Ailiani, Michaela E Trautman, Reji Babygirija, Dudley W Lamming, Troy A Hornberger, Dennis M Minton, Adam R Konopka

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology. 2025 March 31. pmid:40161678, pmc:PMC11952434, doi:10.1101/2025.03.10.642477
PoWeR elicits intracellular signaling, mitochondrial adaptations, and hypertrophy in multiple muscles consistent with endurance and resistance exercise training

Christian J Elliehausen, Szczepan S Olszewski, Dennis M Minton, Audrey L Spiegelhoff, Carolyn G Shult, Wenyuan G Zhu, Troy A Hornberger, Adam R Konopka

Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985). 2025 March 18. pmid:40100208, pmc:PMC12323402, doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00872.2024
Tissue-specific effects of dietary protein on cellular senescence are mediated by branched-chain amino acids

Mariah F Calubag, Ismail Ademi, Isaac Grunow, Lucia Breuer, Reji Babygirija, Penelope Lialios, Sandra Le, Dennis Minton, Michelle M Sonsalla, Julia Illiano, Bailey A Knopf, Fan Xiao, Adam R Konopka, David A Harris, Dudley W Lamming

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology. 2025 January 27. pmid:39868338, pmc:PMC11761368, doi:10.1101/2025.01.13.632607
The Fifth Annual Symposium of the Midwest Aging Consortium

Brenda F Reader, Lorena Rosas, Bailey Anna Knopf, Yang Liu, Diego Alzate-Correa, Ajay Bhat, Anna Carey, Ana Maria Cuervo, Sanjana Dayal, Rafael S Demarco, Christian J Elliehausen, Davis A Englund, Haylee L Hamilton, Matthew Johnston, Ping Kang, Adam R Konopka, Noah Lepola, Carolyn J Presley, Marissa J Schafer, Joan Serrano, Benjamin D Singer, Min-Ae Song, Kristin I Stanford, Jackson Taylor, Wei Wei, Chung-Yang Yeh, Lei Zhang, Lei Zhang, Rozalyn M Anderson, Hua Bai, Paul D Robbins, Dudley W Lamming, Maria M Mihaylova, Mauricio Rojas, Ana L Mora

The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences. 2024 December 20. pmid:39704343, pmc:PMC11772560, doi:10.1093/gerona/glae296
Inhibition of mTORC1 by rapamycin results in feedback activation of AktS473 and aggravates hallmarks of osteoarthritis in female mice and non-human primates

Dennis M Minton, Aditya R Ailiani, Michael D K Focht, Mariana E Kersh, Amy Li, Christian J Elliehausen, Michelle M Sonsalla, Dudley W Lamming, Angela J Marolf, Kelly S Santangelo, Adam B Salmon, Adam R Konopka

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology. 2024 May 27. pmid:38798488, pmc:PMC11118493, doi:10.1101/2024.05.14.594256

Dr. Konopka uses a translational research approach that identifies mechanisms regulating the biology and metabolism of musculoskeletal aging in pre-clinical models and applies these findings to test the potential healthspan extending effects in human clinical trials. Dr. Konopka’s research has two main themes that focus on the age-related loss of skeletal muscle health and osteoarthritis. We are currently investigating how skeletal muscle mitochondrial bioenergetics and remodeling mediate aging and the healthspan extending effects of exercise and/or metformin. We are also interested in understanding how the mTOR signaling pathway is involved in the initiation and treatment of osteoarthritis.