PopHel Newsletter: April 2026 - September 2026

This newsletter shares our research activities at the Helsinki Institute for Demography and Population Health (PopHel) from spring to autumn 2026.

To receive our newsletter, which we send out twice a year, subscribe to our mailing list by sending an email to . Subscribers of our mailing list will also receive information on upcoming public talks and open positions at PopHel. You can also follow our activities on Blue Sky or on .

A few highlights: PopHel was well-represented at the biennial European Population Conference held in June in Bologna, where Mikko Myrskylä received the 2026 Dirk J. Van de Kaa Award for Population Studies. While still adapting to our new premises at Snellmaninkatu 12, we have been happy to welcome altogether four new or returning colleagues. This year our seasonal tradition of planting tulip bulbs for the spring is sadly ruined by the extensive renovations of the neighbouring National Archives, but we try to fill the flower-shaped hole in our hearts with other well-being supporting activities such as a weekly running/walking club.

PopHel Talks – online seminar

PopHel Talks, our online seminar series is open to all. In these talks, researchers at PopHel, current visiting researchers, or guest speakers will give 30-minutes presentations (+15-minute discussion) on their current research. Please, feel free to share our invitation to PopHel talks with colleagues who may be interested.

The next presentation will be on the 5t^h of October 2026 at 12:15 pm Eastern European Time by Julia Hellstrand on “Childbearing in flux: Who is still having children?” Read more .

On Monday 7^th of December 2026 at 10:15 am Eastern European Time, Alvaro Obeso will be presenting at PopHel Talks.

Up to date information on upcoming talks can be found on our . Please register for a Zoom link to the seminar.

New projects, awards, graduations, nominations

Hannu Lahtinen has started his academy research fellowship in project Education – a universal solvent? Towards a cross-disciplinary synthesis, September 2026 – August 2030

Mikko Myrskylä received the 2026 Dirk J. Van de Kaa Award for Population Studies at the European Population Conference 2026 in Bologna. Presented by the European Association for Population Studies (EAPS), the award honours outstanding scientific achievements in population studies.

Xu Zong was awarded a City of Helsinki Research Grant to conduct research addressing municipal population health and social well-being.

Xu Zong has received support from the Otto A. Malm Foundation for a short-term research stay in the UK, exploring whether workplace automation can mitigate labor shortages by delaying retirement in Finland and the UK.

Ricarda Duerst successfully defended her PhD thesis “” at the University of Helsinki in September 2026.

Newcomers

Johanna Leponen started as a research assistant in April 2026. Alongside her role at the Helsinki Institute for Demography and Population Health, Johanna is also completing her master's degree in social science, specializing in Demography, at the University of Helsinki. Her upcoming thesis examines the association between grey divorce and alcohol-related morbidity. Contact:

Zahra Roustaei started as a Postdoctoral Researcher in May 2026. She is working on the , which investigates how fertility patterns may explain sex differences in autoimmune diseases using Finnish registry data. Zahra is a midwife and public health epidemiologist and holds a PhD in Clinical Research from the University of Helsinki. Contact:

Riikka Sallinen started as a project planner in May 2026. She will be working in a research project focusing on old age and dementia and start her PhD project focusing on living alone, cardiovascular diseases and mortality. Riikka holds a master’s degree in Demography from the University of Helsinki. Contact:

Sebastián Peña started as a Postdoctoral Researcher in August 2026. He will be working on a research project on socioeconomic inequalities in cancer incidence, survival and mortality using Finnish registry data. Sebastián is a medical doctor and holds a PhD degree from University of Helsinki. Contact:

Visiting researchers at PopHel

D’Lane Compton (April-May) from the University of New Orleans. Professor Compton gave a presentation on Future Considerations for LGBT Population Measurement and Analysis.
Suri Li (June), from Institute for Social Science Research, University of Queensland and the Centre of Excellence for Children & Families over the Life Course, Australia:FIRE Visiting Fellow Programme for International Collaboration on Register-Based Research. Plus, short visit: Prof. Janeen Baxter, Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course and Kathleen Fitzpatrick Laureate Fellow in the Institute for Social Science Research.
Heini Väisänen (August) from Ined - Institut national d'études démographiques, France
Anna Oksuzyan (September) from Bielefeld University
Weiqian Xia (September) from the Stockholm University/Åbo Akademi. Weiqian Xia gave a presentation on Religious Disaffiliation in a Secularized Society: A Register-Based Study of Finland on the Impact of Policy and Legislative Changes.
Kira Larsen from the Danish Center for Social Science Research visited us on September 21^st to give a presentation on Lacking skills or lacking workers? Institutional barriers in social and health care education.

Interested in visiting PopHel? Apply to the that covers a one-month visit in 2027 to collaborate with our researchers in connection with the Finnish Infrastructure for Register-Based Research (FIRE) project. The call is open until 16 October 2026.

PopHel research visits

Sanna Kailaheimo-Björkqvist visited the Stockholm University Sociology Unit in Sweden in May to work on health and family formation with Professor Kieron Barclay.
Lotta Lintunen visited the European University Institute in June to work on the mental health impacts of an admission reform with Juho Härkönen.
Xu Zong visited the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Germany from July 1 to July 28 to work on reproductive ageing with Susie Lee.
Pekka Martikainen visited the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Germany in August to work social determinants of health with Alyson Van Raalte, Marcus Ebeling, Susie Lee, Peng Li and Emma Zai.

Conferences, Workshops and Meetings

Upcoming

The Science Forum 2027, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, 23 January 2027

Julia Hellstrand “Onko Suomen väestön vähenemiseen ratkaisuja?“

Stockholm University's PHS Talks series (Department of Public Health Sciences)

Xu Zong will give a seminar titled 'Machine Learning for Social Determinants of Health: From Identifying Predictors to Estimating Heterogeneous and Causal Effects' on Wednesday, 11 November 2026.

Past events

, , Stockholm, Sweden, 22 September 2026

Julia Hellstrand “Education and fertility change in the Nordic countries”

MigScene Research Workshop, Fiskars Village, Finland, 15–17 September 2026

Julia Hellstrand “Immigrant mobility and labor-market activity across Finland’s rural, urban, and Swedish-speaking regions”

European Society of Health and Medical Sociology, Biennial Conference, Hamburg, Germany, 19–21 August 2026

Eevi Haverinen “Spatial and socioeconomic variation in neurodevelopmental diagnoses: a multilevel Finnish population study" (oral)
Niina Metsä-Simola “From pre-pregnancy to the early school years: maternal mental health and child’s ADHD in Germany and the UK” (oral)
Niina Metsä-Simola “Heterogeneity in educational outcomes following ADHD: a full population register-study in Finland” (oral)

Society for Longitudinal and Lifecourse Studies, Annual International Conference, Bruxelles, Belgium, 29 Jun – 1 Jul 2026

Niina Metsä-Simola “Neurodevelopmental disorders across the life course: social inequalities and consequences” (symposium with Lotta Volotinen, Eevi Haverinen, and Hanna Remes)
Hanna Remes "Childhood experience of family disruption and adverse early adult outcomes" (oral)
Luca Dei Bardi “Housing wealth, capital income and earned income as predictors of multiple health outcomes" (oral)

Family Diversity & Health Conference 2026: The Potential of Register-Based Research in Germany and Europe, Berlin, Germany, 28–29 June 2026

Lauren Bishop “Accumulation of sibling complexity and mental health and education among adolescents” (oral)
Liina Junna “Sibling Complexity and Mental Health Outcomes in Late Adolescence – Evidence from Finnish Birth Cohorts" (oral)

Microsimulation Methods in Demography: Fertility Applications, Rostock, Germany, 11–17 June 2026 (Instructors: Daniel Ciganda, Henrik Schubert, Julia Hellstrand)

European Population Conference, Bologna, 3–6 June 2026

Lotta Lintunen “Home to health: A sibling correlation approach to family background and mediating effects on early adulthood mental health” (oral)
Sanna Kailaheimo-Björkqvist “From early to fewer first births: ADHD and family formation among young adults” (oral)
Lauren Bishop “Accumulation of sibling complexity and mental health and education among adolescents” (oral)
Julia Hellstrand “Potential fertility gains from reducing IVF waiting times amid ongoing fertility postponement: A simulation study” (poster)
Elina Einiö "Marital dissolution and mental health: A study of divorcing women of same-sex and different-sex couples” (poster)
Liina Junna “Sibling Complexity and Mental Health Outcomes in Late Adolescence – Evidence from Finnish Birth Cohorts" (poster)
Lotta Volotinen “Age at attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis and educational outcomes by parental education” (oral)
Eugenio Paglino “Health and Mortality Trajectories of International Immigrants and Native-Born Residents in Finland” (oral)
Moritz Oberndorfer “Social Inequalities in Birthweight in Times of Crisis. A Population-Level Analysis of Social Inequalities in Birthweight before and during Covid-19 Pandemic Using Data from 11 Countries.” (oral presentation)
Anna Leuwer “Trends and social inequalities in alcohol related harm – a birth cohort comparison of Finnish adolescents born between 1979 and 2004" (oral)

The International Sociological Association’s RC28 Social Stratification, Spring Meeting: Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain. 20–22 May 2026.

Olivia McEvoy “Migrant composition of schools and educational outcomes: a multi-level analysis of the Finnish case” (oral).

Population Association of America, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, 6–9 May 2026

Eugenio Paglino “Longer and Healthier Lives: Health and Mortality Trajectories of International Immigrants and Native-Born Residents in Finland” (oral)
Eugenio Paglino “The Foreign-Born Population and State-Level Life Expectancy over the Last Thirty Years” (oral)
Eugenio Paglino “GLP-1 Receptor Agonists and Life Expectancy in the United States” (oral)

INVEST Conference 2026, Building equal societies: from scientific findings to societal transformation, Turku, Finland, 6-8 May 2026

Sanna Kailaheimo-Björkqvist: “Family background and children’s mental health disorders” (oral)

BIOSFER Synergy Camp, Sandbjerg Estate, Denmark, 20–23 April 2026

Julia Hellstrand “Potential fertility gains from reducing IVF waiting times amid ongoing fertility postponement: A simulation study” (oral)
Julia Hellstrand “Immigrant mobility and labor-market integration across Finland’s rural, urban, and Swedish-speaking regions” (oral)

PopHel research in the media

In English

Lotta Volotinen’s work concerning age at first ADHD diagnosis and educational outcomes was featured by several media outlets in the US, including , , and .

In Finnish

Lotta Volotinen’s work concerning age at first ADHD diagnosis and educational outcomes was featured by several media outlets in Finland, including , and .
Maria Guzman-Castillo’s research work was featured by several media outlets, including , , and .

Other

Lotta Volotinen’s work concerning age at first ADHD diagnosis and educational outcomes was featured by several media outlets in other languages, including , , , , and .

Publications 01/04/2026-30/09/2026

Abramova, A., Baral, A., Osińska, A. D., Metsä-Simola, N., Räisänen, K., Duarte, A. S. R., Helgason, K. O., Halldórsdóttir, A. M., Pärnänen, K., Simonsen, G. S., Sariola, S., Lahti, L., Bengtsson-Palme, J., Wasteson, Y., Munk, P., & Pettersen, V. K. (2026). Roadmap for integrated One Health AMR surveillance in Nordic countries. Public Health, 255, 106285.

Abrams, L., Bramajo, O., van Raalte, A., Myrskylä, M., & Mehta, N. K. (2026). Insights into US life expectancy stagnation from birth cohort mortality dynamics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 123(11), Article 2519356123.

Afable, S. D., Evans, M., Korhonen, K., Vierboom, Y., Martikainen, P., Myrskylä, M., & Kulu, H. (2026). Are aging parents and adult children living farther apart? Decomposing trends in intergenerational proximity and coresidence among Finnish parents aged 60–69 (2003–2023). Social Forces, soag043.

BETTER4U Project Consortium, Szczuka, Z., Krzywicka, P., Kornafel, A., Misiakowska, J., Zaleskiewicz, H., Kafyra, M., Kalafati, I. P., Dedoussis, G., Luszczynska, A., Kaprio, J., Palviainen, T., Drouard, G. L. H., Silventoinen, K., & Obeso Fernandez, A. (2026). Are There Any Effective Behavior Change Strategies for Communicating Genetic Risk in Obesity Prevention and Body Weight Reduction Interventions? Obesity Reviews, 27(10). Advance online publication.

Berg, N., Polvinen, A., & McEvoy, O. (2026). Pitkittäis- ja elämänkulkututkijoiden kansainvälinen verkosto ja konferenssi: Society for Longitudinal and Life Course Studies. [in Finnish] Sosiaalilääketieteellinen Aikakauslehti, 63(3), 765-767.

Beuker, A., Pitkänen, J., Aaltonen, M., & Martikainen, P. (2026). Comparison of conviction rates in Finnish birth cohorts 1962–2000. Nordic Journal of Criminology, 28(1), 1–9.

Cisotto, E., Moretti, M., Silan, M., Damiens, J., Belloni, P., Korhonen, K., & Martikainen, P. (2026). Mapping social health and dementia risk: A register-based study of older adults in Finland. Social Science & Medicine, 119154.

Dierker, P., Gueltzow, M., Lahtinen, H., Kühn, M., Martikainen, P., & Myrskylä, M. (2026). Do genetics shape mental health trajectories around partnership transitions? Journal of Marriage and Family.

Fallesen, P., Dommermuth, L., Hellstrand, J., Simonsen, E., Loft, L. T. G. & Mortensen, L. H. (2026) Comparing ideal family size with observed and forecasted completed cohort fertility in Denmark and Norway. Vienna Yearbook of Population Research. (Vol. 24), pp. 1–12.

Goisis, A., Pelikh, A., Palma Carvajal, M., Martikainen, P., Metsä-Simola, N., & Remes, H. (2026). Having a child through medically assisted reproduction: a social stratification perspective. Social Forces : an international journal of social research.

Guzman-Castillo, M., Korhonen, K., Murphy, M., & Martikainen, P. (2026). Future trends in dementia incidence and mortality: projecting the burden of dementia on long-term care in Finland by 2040. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 14034948261471053.

Jang, S. Y., van Lenthe, F. J., Myrskylä, M., Oksuzyan, A., Loi, S., Bopp, M., Bronnum-Hansen, H., Deboosere, P., Kalediene, R., Leinsalu, M., Martikainen, P., Östergren, O. M., Psihoda, S., Regidor, E., Zengarini, N., & Nusselder, W. J. (2026). Socioeconomic inequalities in life expectancy within and between native-born and foreign-born populations: a comparative study of 10 European countries. International Journal of Epidemiology, 55(3), Article dyag045.

Jdanov, D., Jasilionis, D., Tarkiainen, L., & Martikainen, P. (2026). Inequality in life expectancy losses by education in Finland during COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal for Equity in Health, 25(1), Article 90.

Junna, L., Remes, H., Murphy, M., & Martikainen, P. (2026). Sibling Complexity Across Childhood: A 16-Year Follow-up of the 1988 and 2000 Birth Cohorts in Finland. Journal of Marriage and Family 1–12.

Kailaheimo-Björkqvist, S. M., Metsä-Simola, N. S., & Myrskylä, M. (2026). From early to fewer first births: ADHD and family formation among young adults. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

Loi, S., Pitkänen, J., Moustgaard, H., Myrskylä, M., & Martikainen, P. (2026). Educational outcomes of children with an immigrant background: Analyzing immigrant generation, age at immigration, and exogamous background as a unified construct. Migration Studies, 14(2), mnag015.

Laakso, S., Bishop, L., Luukkonen, J., Tarkiainen, L., & Martikainen, P. (2026). Childhood social characteristics and drug-related mortality by age 41: a register-based study of Finnish birth cohorts 1982–2004. European Journal of Public Health 36 (4).

Lintunen, L. (2026). Changing choices? Primary and secondary effects through times of educational contraction. European Sociological Review, 2026;, jcag019,

Luukkonen, J., Pitkänen, J., Junna, L., Bister, L., Martikainen, P., Laakso, S. & Remes, H. (2026). Number of siblings and psychotropic medication purchases surrounding parental death in adulthood: a population-wide cohort study in Finland. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Moretti, M., Fabrizi, E., Lorenti, A., Junna, L., & Martikainen, P. (2026). Educational and gender disparities in work, retirement, and disability-pension expectancies: a cross-country analysis of Italy and Finland. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 81(6), gbag064.

Nissinen, I., Aaltonen, M., Pitkänen, J., Martikainen, P., Suonpää, K. & Latvala, A. (2026). Parental Incarceration and Children’s Risk of Violent Victimization: An Examination of Risks and Perpetrators’ Relationship With the Victim in Finnish Total Population Data. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 41(17–18), 6885–6909.

Obeso, A., Drouard, G., Jelenkovic, A., Medda, E., Fagnani, C., Toccaceli, V., Latvala, A., Aaltonen, S., Medland, S. E., Gordon, S. D., Lee, J., Lee, S. J., Sung, J., Pyun, H., Duncan, G. E., Buchwald, D., Ordonana, J. R., Sanchez-Romera, J. F., Carrillo, E., ... Silventoinen, K. (2026). Genetic and environmental influences on educational disparities in adult weight change: an individual-based pooled analysis of 11 twin cohorts. International Journal of Obesity, 50(8), 1828-1837.

Obeso Fernandez, A., Eriksson, A., Drouard, G., Jelenkovic, A., Aaltonen, S., Ollikainen, M., Spector, T., Mangino, M., Christensen, K., Skytthe, A., Kyvik, K. O., Medda, E., Fagnani, C., Corley, R. P., Huibregtse, B. M., Toccaceli, V., Rasmussen, F. E., Tynelius, P., Medland, S. E., ... Silventoinen, K. (2026). Genetic and Environmental Effects on BMI Fluctuation Across the Adult Life Course and Its Associations with Baseline BMI and BMI Change: An Individual‐Based Study of 14 Longitudinal Twin Cohorts. Diabetes, obesity and metabolism.

Obeso Fernandez, A., Drouard, G. L. H., Jelenkovic, A., Ordoñana, J. R., Sánchez-Romera, J. F., Colodro‐Conde, L., Ollikainen, M., Aaltonen, S., Corley, R. P., Huibregtse, B. M., Medda, E., Fagnani, C., Toccaceli, V., Gatz, M., Butler, D. A., Bartels, M., Ligthart, L., de Geus, E. J. C., Christensen, K., ... Silventoinen, K. (2026). Genetic and environmental effects on weight gain from young adulthood to old age and its association with body mass index in early young adulthood: an individual-based pooled analysis of 16 twin cohorts. International Journal of Obesity, 50(4), 768-776.

Pelikh, A., Remes, H., Kühn, M., Martikainen, P. & Goisis, A. 2026. Birth outcomes in single motherhood 'by choice': A register study of children conceived through Medically Assisted Reproduction. International Journal of Epidemiology.

Ponkilainen, M., Einiö, E., Kolk, M., Fallesen, P., Torvik, F. A., Andersen, M. L., & Myrskylä, M. (2026). Changing Landscapes of Parenthood: Childbearing Among Same-Sex and Different-Sex Couples in the Nordic Countries. Population and Development Review, 52(2), 675-704.

Remes, H. & Tarkiainen, L. (2026). The changing context of intergenerational health inequalities. The Lancet Public Health, 11(6), e352-e353.

Salonen, L., Junna, L., Pitkänen, J., Kauhanen, A., Solovieva, S. & Leinonen, T. (2026). Mielenterveyden häiriöiden ja muiden diagnosoitujen sairauksien yhteys myöhempään työllisyyteen työttömillä työnhakijoilla. Yhteiskuntapolitiikka, 91(3), 264–273.

Sariaslan, A., Kuja-Halkola, R., Forsman, J., Pitkänen, J., du Rietz, E., Chang, Z., D’Onofrio, B. M., Aaltonen, M, Larsson, H, Martikainen, P, Lichtenstein, P, & Fazel, S. (2026). Genetic and environmental architecture of violent victimisation across development and sex: A study of 4.5 million Nordic twins and siblings. Journal of Criminal Justice, 105, 102708.

Silva, J. H. C. M. D., Paglino, E., Borges, G. M., & Nepomuceno, M. R. (2026). The Emergence of an Urban Mortality Advantage in Brazil: An Assessment of Age and Causes-of-Death Contributions to the Urban–Rural Mortality Gap. Journal of Urban Health.

Trigos-Raczkowski, C., Wright, K. Q., Pitkänen, J., Loi, S., Martikainen, P., Moustgaard, H. & Myrskylä, M. (2026). Age at First Marriage or Cohabitation Among First-, Second-, and 2.5-Generation Immigrant Women, Finland 1987–2020. International Migration Review, 01979183261473319.

Volotinen, L., Remes, H., Martikainen, P., & Metsä-Simola, N. (2026). Age at First Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Diagnosis and Educational Outcomes. JAMA Psychiatry, 83(6), 620-629.

Policy briefs

Kuivalainen, S., Jalovaara, M., Jalagin, S., Berg, V.E., Danielsbacka, M., Hanell, T.,,

Hellstrand, J., Junna, L., Kailaheimo-Björkqvist, S., Kauhanen, I., Kauppinen, T., Kmak, M., Korhonen, K., Kuitto, K., Leinonen, T., Lindroos, J., Linnosmaa, I., Lyytikäinen, T., Lyytinen, E., Nisén, J., Pellander, S., Pitkänen, J., Salonen, L., Sundbäck, L., Vaalavuo, M., Valkonen, T. & Zechner, M.M. Suomen väestökehityksen seurauksiin on varauduttava nyt.: Demography-tutkimusohjelman tietopaketti 1/2026