Professor of Physiology and medical doctor specialized in Clinical Physiology.
About Harriet Wallberg’s Research
Harriet Wallberg received her PhD at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm 1987. Her dissertation describes the complex system regulating glucose transport into individual cells in the body. Already in the 1980s, together with a research team at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, USA, she demonstrated that insulin is not necessary for glucose to enter muscle cells. She could show that physical activity stimulates glucose transport, and thus has the same effect as insulin. This research has important clinical applications and provides the base for why exercise is part of the treatment of type 2-diabetes.
Harriet Wallberg’s discovery that muscle activity alone activates the glucose transport system was the start of a lifelong devotion, which has resulted in approximately 130 research articles within the areas of diabetes, physical activity, and lifestyle. Today, when overweight, sedentary lifestyle and stress are growing problems in society, her research is more relevant than ever.