Research group leader Eva Broström

Following her PhD, she co-founded a motion analysis laboratory with colleagues, facilitating the integration of research findings into clinical practice. Today, gait analysis and functional testing are widely used for planning and evaluating medical, orthopedic, and physiotherapeutic interventions.

Broström also completed an eight-month postdoc at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where she worked in Professor Henrik Malcom’s group, researching the effects of osteoarthritis on mobility, strength, physical activity, and pain. This collaboration evolved into an ongoing partnership with Professor Maura Iversen, who now serves as a guest professor in Broström's group.

Broström was appointed Associate Professor in 2011 and became an Adjunct Professor in Pediatric Science with a focus on physiotherapy in 2019 at Karolinska Institutet and Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital.

Professor Broström has held several leadership roles at Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital, including Head of the Movement Disorders and Neuropediatrics Units, as well as the Specialized Advanced Homecare for Children (2013-2016), and the Medical Unit for Pediatric Orthopedics and Pediatric Medicine (2016-2022). She initiated and served as Head of the Center for Clinical Pediatric Studies from 2022 to 2024.

Since 2017, Broström has been Head of the Pediatric Neurology Unit and leader of the Movement, Activity, and Health research group at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health (KBH), where she actively contributes to strategic initiatives, education, research, and graduate training. Her research focuses on children and adults with musculoskeletal and neurological issues, particularly in pediatric rheumatology, neurology, and orthopedics.

She has established the Core Facility for Movement, Function, and Health for children and adolescents, aimed at developing a center of expertise in modern motion analysis, measurement methods, and digitalization in healthcare. Her research group holds unique expertise, particularly in pediatric research focused on intervention studies, instrument development, and long-term follow-ups to deepen the understanding of condition-specific patient needs.

Additionally, Broström has been instrumental in developing and implementing Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROM) and Patient-Reported Experience Measures (PREM), emphasizing children’s and adolescents' experiences and involvement in healthcare.

Currently, Broström is establishing a medical XR group at KI, aimed at advancing research, education, and healthcare applications. XR (Extended Reality)—which includes Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR)—enables interaction with digital objects in the real world or immerses users in a digital environment.