Rate My Professor Benjamin Kopeck

Benjamin Kopecky, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Creighton University in 2007, followed by both his PhD and MD from the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine in 2013. Kopecky completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine in 2015, a fellowship in Cardiology in 2017, and an advanced fellowship in Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology in 2018, all at Washington University/Barnes-Jewish Hospital/St. Louis Children's Hospital.

Kopecky's research focuses on immune-stromal interactions driving heart transplant rejection, informed by patient samples and utilizing advanced techniques such as single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics. He directs the Kopecky Lab within the Division of Cardiology's basic and translational research program. His contributions have advanced understanding of cardiac macrophage metabolism, donor macrophages in transplantation, and immune-fibroblast communication in heart failure. Notable publications include 'Human Single-Nucleus RNA Sequencing Identifies CD47 as a Therapeutic Target for Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiomyopathy' (Circulation, 2025), 'Targeting immune-fibroblast cell communication in heart failure' (Nature, 2024), 'Hypoxia sensing in resident cardiac macrophages regulates monocyte fate specification following ischemic heart injury' (Nature Cardiovascular Research, 2024), 'Type 1 classical dendritic cells govern long-term cardiac allograft acceptance' (Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2025), 'Cervical heterotopic heart transplantation in mice using a novel suture technique' (JHLT Open, 2025), 'Cardiac macrophage metabolism in health and disease' (Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2024), and 'Role of donor macrophages after heart and lung transplantation' (American Journal of Transplantation, 2020). Kopecky has been honored as a Boettcher Investigator by the Boettcher Foundation in 2024 for his work dissecting the smooth muscle cell response to cardiac transplantation and as a Ludeman Center Scientist by the Ludeman Family Center for Women's Health Research in 2024. His publications appear in high-impact journals, influencing the fields of cardiac immunology and transplant medicine.