How endurance exercise changes fat tissue health
Official title: Adipogenesis, triglyceride turnover and cellular composition of adipose tissue in response to endurance training (ATLAS)
Funded at Adventhealth Orlando · NIH-11323189 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses endurance exercise to improve fat tissue health and insulin sensitivity in adults with overweight or type 2 diabetes.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Adventhealth Orlando NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Orlando, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2024 |
| Project end | March 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $696,377 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DK133529-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11323189 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are adults with overweight, obesity, insulin resistance, or type 2 diabetes who can participate in an endurance exercise program and agree to blood draws and small fat biopsies.
✕Less likely to help
People without metabolic problems, those unable to exercise, or those unwilling to undergo tissue biopsies are unlikely to benefit directly from participating.
What this research studies
You would join a supervised endurance exercise program and provide small samples of belly fat (adipose tissue) before and after the training. Researchers will give a safe metabolic labeling drink (heavy water, 2H2O) to track how quickly fat cells and triglycerides turn over and whether new fat cells form. They will test your blood for free fatty acids and measure inflammation and signs of cell aging in your fat tissue, and do lab studies on the biopsy samples outside the body. The goal is to see how exercise—separate from weight loss—improves the health and insulin response of fat tissue.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could clarify how exercise improves insulin sensitivity and lead to better exercise prescriptions or new treatments targeting unhealthy fat tissue.
How similar studies have gone: Prior studies show exercise improves whole-body insulin sensitivity and lowers fasting free fatty acids and preliminary work suggests exercise may reduce new fat cell formation, but a comprehensive, direct look at human fat-tissue changes is novel.
Where this research is happening
-
Adventhealth Orlando
Orlando, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Sparks, Lauren Marie — Adventhealth Orlando
- Study coordinator: Sparks, Lauren Marie
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.