Maria Westerståhl

Maria Westerståhl

Senior Lecturer | Docent
Visiting address: Alfred Nobels allé 8, 14152 Huddinge
Postal address: H5 Laboratoriemedicin, H5 Klinisk Fysiologi Gustafsson, 141 52 Huddinge
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About me

  • I am a senior lecturer at the Karolinska institutet (KI) and have a BSc in
    nutrition and a associate professorship in Physiology. I teach physiology at
    several courses and programs at the KI. In my research I focus on the
    change in physical capacity during life.
    Elected member of the KI Pedagogical Academy 2011
    Master in Nutrition
    Associate professor in physiology

Research

  • My research focuses on health effects of lifestyle. 

  • I am responsible for a longitudinal study
    examining the life changes in and predictors of physical fitness and physical
    activity from adolescence to middle
    age. Forskningsstudie-fysisk-kapacitet-och-hälsa
    In our research we use methods for assessing physical capacity (e.g
    submaximal oxygen uptake, maximal strength), physical activity (e.g
    questionnaires and accelerometers), body composition (e.g. skinfold, BIA, MR, ultrasound),  

  • lifestyle habits (questionnaires) and function of the cardiovascular system
    (e.g. ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, arterial stiffness, ultrasound). We also examine muscle tissue for structural and functional changes with age, using for example ENeG, motor unit number estmation, immunohistochemistry and enzymatic staining.

     

  • I have 


  • supervise PhD-students in their projects concerning cardiovascular risk in
    obese children and in early prevention of obesity.

Teaching

  • I use various pedagogical methods in my teaching and I have developed
    learning activities for both distance- and campus-based education. I teach
    students at the nursing-, occupational therapy-, physiotherapy-,
    nutritionist-, and biomedical scientist programs at KI. I am a teacher,
    course leader and examiner for various courses in e.g. anatomy and
    physiology, nutrition, nutritional assessment, obesity prevention and
    treatment and teach both at campus- and web based courses. I have designed
    courses in nutrition and physiology by defining the curriculum, creating the
    learning activities and the examinations. I examine and/or supervise students
    at the undergraduate, master and doctoral level.

Articles

All other publications

Grants

  • A longitudinal approach to characterize loss of muscle mass and function in aging humans
    Swedish Research Council for Sport Science
    1 January 2024 - 31 December 2023
  • longitudinal approach to characterize loss of muscle mass and function in aging humans – the importance of peripheral nerve integrity- part 2
    Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2024 - 31 December 2023
  • A longitudinal approach to characterize loss of muscle mass and function in aging humans
    Swedish Research Council for Sport Science
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2023
  • Varför tappar individer olika mängd muskelmassa under åldrandet? En studie som kan leda till ökad självständighet och delaktighet i vardagen
    Stiftelsen Ragnhild och Einar Lundströms minne
    1 January 2022 - 31 December 2022
  • Varför tappar individer olika mängd muskelmassa under åldrandet? En studie som kan leda till ökad självständighet och delaktighet i vardagen
    Stiftelsen Tornspiran
    31 March 2020 - 31 December 2022
  • Resebidrag: 17th European Congress on Obesity | May 6-9 2009, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
    Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 April 2009 - 31 May 2009

Employments

  • Senior Lecturer, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 2011-

Degrees and Education

  • Docent, Karolinska Institutet, 2020
  • Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 2003

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