Heljä-Marja Surcel

Heljä-Marja Surcel serves as a Senior Research Fellow at the Research Centre for Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Finland. Her academic work centers on perinatal epidemiology and child psychiatric disorders, utilizing Finnish national birth cohort data to investigate maternal-fetal health interactions.

Her primary research domains include Child Psychiatry, Perinatal Epidemiology, and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. She specializes in examining how maternal biomarkers (Vitamin B12, C-reactive protein), environmental exposures (insecticides), and lifestyle factors (smoking) during pregnancy influence offspring mental health outcomes. Her methodology emphasizes large-scale cohort analyses with rigorous statistical validation.

Analysis of her 2016-2021 publications reveals consistent focus on inflammatory pathways in ADHD and autism etiology, alongside methodological innovations in perinatal exposure assessment. Her work demonstrates particular expertise in leveraging Finland's comprehensive national registries for longitudinal developmental studies.

She maintains active collaboration with leading researchers including Alan S. Brown, Andre Sourander, and Susanna Hinkka-Yli-Salomäki through the University of Turku's Research Centre for Child Psychiatry.