Lisa Kaati

Lisa Kaati serves as a Visiting Researcher at Uppsala University's Department of Information Technology, applying interdisciplinary computer science methods to terrorism studies, digital hate, and violent extremism analysis. With over 40 academic publications and advisory roles for Europol and the EU's Radicalisation Awareness Network, her work bridges technical and security domains.

She earned her PhD in Computer Science from Uppsala University in 2008, establishing foundational expertise in formal methods that evolved into security applications. Her educational trajectory reflects a strategic shift from theoretical computer science to real-world security challenges.

Dr. Kaati's research centers on data science and machine learning for threat assessment, with pioneering work in author profiling, digital hate detection, and violent extremism analysis. She develops practical tools like the Profile Risk Assessment Tool (PRAT) for written communication risk evaluation, while exploring psychological aspects through linguistic marker identification in radicalized content and suicidal communications. Her methodology integrates computational rigor with behavioral insights to address complex online security threats.

Analysis of her 2016-2021 publications reveals a cohesive research trajectory focused on applied machine learning for digital threat detection. Key thematic clusters include behavioral profiling of extreme adopters, linguistic analysis of radicalization markers, and risk assessment frameworks for written communication. These works consistently demonstrate cross-disciplinary innovation, transforming theoretical computer science into actionable security intelligence with policy implications.

From 2008-2022, Dr. Kaati led the Data Science group at Sweden's Defence Research Agency (FOI), directing a six-year government commission on online violent extremist propaganda. This leadership role fostered collaborations between computer scientists, psychologists, and security experts to develop evidence-based counter-terrorism strategies. Her current Uppsala affiliation continues this interdisciplinary tradition within the Division of Computer Systems.