The mitochondria are central to everything from metabolism to immunity and ageing. Joanna Rorbach wants to understand what happens when they fail. Meet one of the new professors of Karolinska Institutet who will participate in this year’s installation ceremony at Aula Medica on 8 October.
Text: Karin Tideström, for KI’s installation ceremony booklet 2026
Joanna Rorbach researches mitochondria and how they behave during protein synthesis and regulate cellular energy production.
Photo: Erik Flyg
“Mitochondria are often called the ‘powerhouses’ of the cell, but they are much more than that – they are central to metabolism, immunity, and ageing,” she says.
Mitochondrial dysfunction is linked to neurodegenerative diseases, cancer and rare inherited diseases.
Professor Rorbach’s research group combines molecular biology, biochemistry, structural biology and advanced imaging techniques to study the mitochondrial protein factories (mitoribosomes). They also apply transcriptomics and proteomics to identify factors that govern mitochondrial gene expression.
The aim of their research is to uncover previously unknown mechanisms that control mitochondrial protein synthesis and what happens when the process fails. Eventually, Professor Rorbach hopes that the knowledge generated will support the development of better diagnostic tools and new treatments for mitochondrial disorders.
About Joanna Rorbach
Professor of Mitochondrial Biology at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics as of 1 May 2026
Joanna Rorbach was born in Katowice, Poland, in 1980. She took her undergraduate degree in biotechnology at Poland’s Jagiellonian University and earned her PhD in 2009 from the University of Newcastle, UK, where she researched mitochondrial gene expression. She established her own research group at Karolinska Institutet in 2017.
