People

Here, you can find our contact details and links to our researcher profiles at the research database Tuhat , which includes up-to-date information on our latest 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 is a university lecturer in developmental psychology, and has a PhD and docentship in psychology. Marius’ research interests include the developmental origins of mental health, including fetal programming.

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 is a doctoral researcher with 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 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 doctoral researcher and a psychologist with clinical work experience with children and families. Her research interests include adverse childhood experiences, prenatal programming, and childhood development. Her PhD 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 doctoral researcher and a psychologist with a background in social sciences. Her research interests include prenatal, infant and early childhood development, and her PhD 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 is a doctoral researcher with 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

Anna Lähdepuro

Doctoral researcher

Anna is a psychologist and is interested in the developmental origins of mental health. Her research focus is the association of prenatal factors with later mental health.

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,