Postdoc Fellowships 2026 - Project 5
Short running title of project: "Obesity Management Beyond the Scale"
Project title: "Clinical and Mechanistic Human Studies of Tissue Adaptations to GLP-1RA Therapy in Persons with Obesity"
Summary
Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are highly effective for weight loss and glycemic improvement, but muscle loss could undermine metabolic health, functional capacity, and long-term sustainability of weight reduction. As skeletal muscle is the main site for insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, preserving muscle mass and improving muscle quality are of greatest importance to further improve insulin sensitivity and metabolic health. This project will (i) investigate the muscle adaptations and functional adaptations to obesity treatment with GLP-1RA, (ii) test an accessible mitigation strategy (regular exercise training), and (iii) investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms that explain tissue-specific adaptations to GLP-1RA therapy.