Jessica Maria Norrbom

Jessica Maria Norrbom

Assistant Senior Lecturer
Telephone: +46852483712
Visiting address: Solnavägen 9, Biomedicum C5, 17165 Solna
Postal address: C3 Fysiologi och farmakologi, C3 FyFa Molekylär Arbetsfysiologi, 171 77 Stockholm
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About me

  • I am a molecular biologist (Stockholm University) with a PhD in physiology from Karolinska Institutet.

    I work as an Assistant Senior Lecturer and serve as the Program Director of the Master’s Programme in Translational Physiology and Pharmacology. My teaching focuses on physiology across several of Karolinska Institutet’s programmes and courses.

    My research focuses on the molecular responses to different types of exercise – why physical activity works as well as it does when we move. Current research projects include investigating exercise responses to both resistance and endurance training in children and adults. In 2025, I received a grant from Promobilia to focus on interventions aimed at increasing physical activity among children and young adults with motor disabilities such as cerebral palsy.

    I also have a strong interest in outreach and popular science communication in the fields of physical activity, diet, and health, and I am the co-author of several books in Swedish.

Research

  • The main focus of my research concerns the molecular adaptation to exercise in humans, specifically in skeletal muscle. The overall aim is to expand the knowledge of molecular mechanisms involved in human skeletal muscle adaptation to exercise and exercise training. It is important from a clinical, as well as from a basic science perspective, to understand the regulation of skeletal muscle gene activity and the adaptation process at a molecular level to recognize how it might contribute to the functional and the numerous health benefits seen with a physically active lifestyle.

    In recent years I have shifted also to studying the effects of exercise in children, both resistance and endurance exercise. 

    We have conducted an exercise intervention study comparing traditional resistance training with flywheel training in both children and adults. The study aims to develop improved methods for assessing muscle adaptation in children and to examine the effects of a three‑month training program in two understudied age groups. In adults, we will collect muscle biopsies and blood samples before and after training, as well as after an eight‑week detraining period. In children, blood samples will be collected pre‑ and post‑training. Molecular, transcriptomic and epigenetic outcomes will be linked to muscle size, strength and power to determine how different training modalities influence muscle adaptation.
     

    In another study, the overarching purpose is to investigate how puberty influences physical performance, exercise responses, daily activity patterns, and physical self-esteem. By integrating molecular, physiological and psychosocial measures, the project will provide novel insights into how biological maturation affects children’s health and development. We will be following a cohort of children aged 9-12 years, who will repeat the same intervention and tests for 5 years during their pubertal development.

    In collaboration with Ferdinand von Walden (KBH) I am involved in studies aiming to implement accessible and adapted training interventions that increase mobility and physical activity in preschool children and young adults, thereby improving both their physical and mental health. These porjcts are funded by the Promobilia Foundation. 

    Research areas: 

    • Molecular responses to exercise
    • Exercise physiology 
    • Exercise as prevention
    • Physical activity for individuals with motor disabilities such as cerebral palsy

Teaching

  • I have been teaching physiology since the start of my PhD education in 2000. My areas of expertise include the physiology of organ systems of the human body, skeletal muscle physiology, exercise and environmental physiology and regulation of adaptation, physical activity and its health and functional benefits. These are subject areas that are included in many study programs at Karolinska Institutet. Currently, I teach in both undergraduate courses and programs as well as courses at the doctoral level and supervise PhD candidates. I have supervised bachelor and master thesis students from the Biomedicine programme, the Master programme in Bioentrepreneurship, and the Medical programme.

    In June 2021 I was appointed Program Director (PD) of the Master’s programme in Translational Physiology and Pharmacology (MTPP), a 2-year international master program that started for the first time in August 2022.  

    At present I hold course responsibility for the following courses: Integrated Physiology and Pharmacology (30 ECTs, MTPP), Fysiologi – en introduktion (7.5 ECTs, single-subject course), an upcoming elective course Läkarens roll och metoder för att stödja förändring av levnadsvanor within the medical programme (7, 5 ECTs), responsible for the physiology in Organsystemens struktur och funktion, part of the dentistry program. I am also examiner for several courses in the MTPP program.

    I have previously been course responsible for Människans Fysiologi (30 ECTs, single-subject course), Human physiology – an overview (3 ECTs, doctoral course) as well as developed an online course in Human Physiology for doctoral students.

Articles

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Grants

Employments

  • Assistant Senior Lecturer, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, 2022-

Degrees and Education

  • Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, 2008

Leadership and responsibility assignments

  • Responsible for a study programme, Program Director Master's Programme in Translational Physiology and Pharmacology, Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, 2022-

Supervision

  • Supervision to doctoral degree

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