People

Here, you can find our group members and their contact information. Links to our researcher profiles in the research portal provide up-to-date information on recent publications.
Group members
Katri Räikkonen

Professor

Katri is the head of the Developmental Psychology Research Group. She is interested in a variety of early-life exposures, such as maternal stress and pregnancy complications, and the role these factors may play for the developing individual.

katri.raikkonen(a)helsinki.fi,

Marius Lahti-Pulkkinen

Senior Researcher

Marius has a PhD and docentship in psychology and he works as a university lecturer in developmental psychology. His research interests include various topics in developmental and clinical psychology as well as in child, adolescent and adult psychiatry. The studies often focus on the developmental origins of health and disease, including risk, protective, and promotive factors for mental health and psychological development. Marius also studies the genetic and epigenetic and steroid and inflammatory neurobiological biomarkers of health and development, as well as maternal somatic and mental health during pregnancy.

marius.lahti-pulkkinen(a)helsinki.fi, ,

Polina Girchenko

Senior Researcher

Polina's research field is life-course epidemiology. Her interest is to understand how maternal conditions during pregnancy shape life-course trajectories of mental health and to identify modifiable factors that can mitigate negative influences.

polina.girchenko(a)helsinki.fi,

Riikka Pyhälä

Senior Researcher

Riikka has a PhD and docentship in developmental psychology, and background as a specialized child and youth psychologist. Riikka’s research interests include early parenthood, predictors of mental health and long-term development after preterm.

riikka.pyhala(a)helsinki.fi, ,

Li Tian

Senior Researcher

Li has a background in biochemistry and neuroscience. Her research activities have covered both clinical and preclinical studies on neuropsychiatric disorders, focusing on molecular mechanisms such as neuro-immune interactions. Her current project aims to characterize direct and indirect parental genetic influences on offspring’s behavioural and mental health problems using family-based genomic approaches.

li.tian(a)helsinki.fi, , ,

Annaleena Holopainen

Postdoctoral Researcher

Annaleena is a developmental psychologist interested in supporting the wellbeing of children and parents. She has completed her at the Vrije University Amsterdam. Annaleena's research interests include investigating biopsychosocial predictors (e.g., perinatal stress) of parenting and child development.

annaleena.holopainen(a)helsinki.fi, ,

Soile Hytti

Doctoral Researcher

Soile has a background in biomedicine, with a focus on genetics and molecular bioscience. Her research interests include the role of epigenetics in prenatal, infant, and early childhood development. Her PhD work focuses on placental mechanisms that may mediate the effects of maternal exposures on child development.

soile.hytti(a)helsinki.fi, , ,

Verna Salo

Doctoral Researcher

Verna is a psychologist with clinical work experience with children and families. Her research interests include adverse childhood experiences, prenatal programming, and childhood development. Her PhD work focuses on the intergenerational effects of childhood maltreatment and pregnancy-related biological alterations. 

verna.salo(a)helsinki.fi, , ,

Tiina Seikku

Doctoral Researcher

Tiina is a psychologist with a background in social sciences. Her research interests include prenatal, infant and early childhood development, and her PhD work focuses on the prenatal programming mechanisms of maternal depression and anxiety on later child development. 

tiina.seikku(a)helsinki.fi, , ,

Chenyao Ni

Doctoral Researcher

Chenyao has a background in molecular biology and biostatistics. His research focuses on maternal and child health, developmental and psychiatric epidemiology, and statistical analysis of longitudinal cohort data. His work involves data management, statistical modelling, and the study of prenatal factors in relation to child growth and later health outcomes.

chenyao.ni(a)helsinki.fi

Kavya Atapattu Mudiyanselage

Doctoral researcher

Kavya has background in statistics and experience in statistical and population genetics. Her research interests focus on how genetic variation influences maternal responses to clinical interventions during pregnancy. In her PhD work she investigates genetic moderators of maternal susceptibility to antenatal corticosteroids, aiming to understand genetic differences between mothers who receive antenatal corticosteroid treatment and those who do not.

kavya.atapattumudiyanselage(a)helsinki.fi,

Collaborating alumni
Jari Lahti

Professor

Jari is a professor of clinical psychology, mental health, and mental health interventions and leads the research group at the University of Helsinki. The group investigates how environmental and multi-omics factors interact to shape mental health and cognitive outcomes, and develops and evaluates effective psychosocial interventions to improve mental well-being.

jari.lahti(a)helsinki.fi,

Kati Heinonen

Professor

Kati is a professor of psychology in University of Tampere. She leads her own research group and collaborates closely with Depsy. Kati also has background as a specialized child psychologist.

kati.heinonen-tuomaala(a)tuni.fi,