James Coppock

Research

My PhD work at Duke built deep-learning methods to measure how living spinal discs deform and recover, using MRI. Full list on Google Scholar.

Dissertation

Development of Imaging-Based Models for Analyzing the Spatiotemporal Function of Intervertebral Discs. PhD, Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, 2023. Advisor: Louis E. DeFrate.

First-author papers

  1. Automated segmentation and prediction of intervertebral disc morphology and uniaxial deformations from MRICoppock JA, Zimmer NE, Spritzer CE, Goode AP, DeFrate LE. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open 5(3):100378, 2023.
  2. The effects of a 6-month weight loss intervention on physical function and serum biomarkers in older adults with and without osteoarthritisCoppock JA, McNulty AL, Porter Starr KN, … DeFrate LE. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open 5(3):100376, 2023.
  3. In vivo intervertebral disc mechanical deformation following a treadmill walking "stress test" is inversely related to T1rho relaxation timeCoppock JA, Zimmer NE, Englander ZA, … DeFrate LE. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 31(1):126–133, 2023.
  4. Increasing BMI increases lumbar intervertebral disc deformation following a treadmill walking stress testCoppock JA, Danyluk ST, Englander ZA, … DeFrate LE. Journal of Biomechanics 121:110392, 2021.
  5. Predicting oxygen uptake responses during cycling at varied intensities using an artificial neural networkCoppock JA, et al.. Biomedical Human Kinetics, 2019.

Co-authored

  1. The influence of walking speed on the mechanoresponsiveness of biomarkersMcNulty AL, Thomas KN, Liu B, … DeFrate LE. Connective Tissue Research 67(5):608–615, 2026.
  2. Resting supine for 45 minutes yields consistent baseline lumbar intervertebral disc height in asymptomatic participantsZimmer NE, Coppock JA, Kosinski AS, … DeFrate LE. Annals of Biomedical Engineering 53(8):1883–1889, 2025.
  3. The predicted position of the knee near the time of ACL rupture is similar between 2 commonly observed patterns of bone bruising on MRI: responseKim-Wang SY, Spritzer CE, Bercaw JR, … DeFrate LE. American Journal of Sports Medicine 53(3):NP7–NP13, 2025.
  4. The predicted position of the knee near the time of ACL rupture is similar between 2 commonly observed patterns of bone bruising on MRIKim-Wang SY, Spritzer CE, Owusu-Akyaw K, … DeFrate LE. American Journal of Sports Medicine 51(1):58–65, 2023.

Patent

US 12,285,273, Multi-axial joint laxity testing apparatus and method (2025; published as US 2022/0409142 A1). Co-inventor.

Grants and honors