Benjamin Clarsen

Benjamin Clarsen is an Associate Professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in the Department of Sports Medicine and also holds a position as Associate Professor at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in the Department of Disease Burden. His work bridges sports medicine and public health, focusing on injury and illness surveillance in elite and amateur athletes.

His research interests include:

• Sports injury epidemiology
• Overuse injuries and health problems in athletes
• Methodology in sports injury research
• Load management and injury risk
• Health monitoring in Olympic and Paralympic athletes
• Public health survey methodology

Clarsen's recent publications (2024–2025) reveal a strong focus on large-scale epidemiological studies in football (men's and women's), golf, and Olympic sports. He is involved in FIFA and IOC consensus initiatives, contributing to standardized methods for injury recording. His work emphasizes not just injury incidence but also the burden of health problems, including mental health and illness. He frequently employs prospective cohort designs and systematic reviews, often in collaboration with international experts.

He has contributed to influential consensus statements, including those by the International Olympic Committee on injury and illness surveillance. His methodological rigor is evident in papers addressing missing data, survey response bias, and standardized reporting frameworks like STROBE-SIIS.

As a researcher and academic, Clarsen plays a key role in developing health monitoring programs for Norwegian elite athletes and refining epidemiological methods in sports medicine. He collaborates extensively with institutions and researchers across Europe and globally, particularly in football and Olympic sports medicine.