Tiina Paunio

Tiina Paunio is a Professor at the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, and is affiliated with HUS Psychiatry. She holds the title of Docent and serves as a supervisor for multiple doctoral programmes including Brain & Mind, Clinical Research, Integrative Life Science, and Population Health.

Her research focuses on the molecular and genetic underpinnings of psychiatric disorders, particularly the interplay between sleep disturbances and mood disorders such as bipolar disorder and depression. She has led groundbreaking studies demonstrating that poor sleep predicts depressed mood, but not vice versa, highlighting the causal role of sleep in mood regulation. Her work integrates genetic epidemiology, cognitive neuroscience, and longitudinal cohort designs, including the FinnBrain Birth Cohort and national twin studies. She has explored gene-environment interactions, such as how childhood trauma influences adult insomnia, and how genetic susceptibility to bipolar disorder affects visual perception and circadian rhythms.

Her recent publications reveal trends in psychiatric genetics, sleep biology, and psychosocial resilience, with increasing emphasis on polygenic risk scores, telomere length as a biomarker of stress, and personalized treatment approaches. Her work bridges basic science and clinical application, particularly in schizophrenia and mood disorders.

Scientific Awards:

• Vuoden artikkeli Lääkärilehdessä (Article of the Year in Lääkärilehti), 2009

Tiina Paunio has supervised numerous doctoral theses and has been actively involved in mentoring early-career researchers. She has secured competitive funding from the Academy of Finland and private foundations such as Signe och Ane Gyllenbergs stiftelse. Her current projects include research on meditation and breath practices, sleep in schizophrenia, student wellbeing, and child sleep and health. She is a key figure in national and international collaborations, regularly participates in academic events, and contributes to public discourse through media interviews with outlets like Yleisradio, Helsingin Sanomat, and Reuters.

She is a principal investigator or project manager in several active research initiatives, including population-based cohort studies and intervention projects aimed at improving mental health and resilience. Her lab is embedded within the Sleep and Health research group at the University of Helsinki, fostering interdisciplinary research across genetics, neuroscience, and clinical psychiatry.