Salla Era is a project researcher at the Centre of Excellence on Research on Aging and Care at the University of Jyväskylä, affiliated with the Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy and Wellbeing Research Community . Her work bridges disability studies and ageing research , focusing on policy intersections between old age and disability.
Jari Lindh ( University Lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lapland ) is a leading scholar in structural social work and disability services. His research focuses on the intersection of legal, organizational, and professional discourses in disability social work, with a regional emphasis on Lapland and welfare areas. Field of Science: Social Work Current Projects: RAVATTI (Structural Disability Social Work, 2023-2025), HaraVa (Considerate Disability Social Work, 2021-2023) Research Interests Structural Social Work Vocational Rehabilitation Legal and Organizational Discourse Socio-technical Systems in Rehabilitation Discretion in Disability Services Client Self-Determination Rights Selected Publications (2023-2025) address telerehabilitation adaptation, structural social work reforms, relational discretion frameworks, and implementation of disability rights in service systems. Activities include: Keynote Speaker at 2025 International Social Work Conference Media contributions on disability social work (2024, 2023)
Eeva Nykänen is a Professor at the Department of Law, Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Administration, University of Eastern Finland. Her research focuses on welfare law, disability rights, healthcare legislation, and the intersection of human dignity with legal frameworks. She leads the Academy of Finland-funded Disability & Dignity (DiDi) project (2021–2025), examining how Finnish legislation regulates human dignity for persons with disabilities and its real-life implications. Key Research Areas: Welfare law, disability rights, healthcare governance, legal implementation of self-determination, empirical legal research. Projects: Securing well-being during a pandemic (2022–2024), Disability and human dignity (2021–2025). Her recent work analyzes the legal boundaries of self-government in Finland’s wellbeing services counties, the role of the responsible physician under the Health Care Act, and systemic challenges in social work. She combines theoretical analysis with empirical methods, including interviews with disabled children and families, to assess legislative adequacy.
Jaana Norio is a Senior University Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki, where she also holds the Title of Docent. Her primary research focuses on insurance law and consumer law, with extensive publications analyzing Finnish Supreme Court (KKO) decisions. She maintains active roles in legal scholarship through peer review, editorial positions, and committee memberships. Her research spans: Insurance law frameworks and liability systems Consumer protection in financial services Legal interpretation of tort and contract disputes Compensation mechanisms for personal/property damage Publications (114+ outputs) predominantly feature commentaries on KKO rulings from 2020-2025, demonstrating consistent focus on: Consumer credit regulations Traffic/liability insurance jurisprudence Occupational health compensation Product liability standards Awards include: Best Article in Lakimies journal (2007) received twice (2008 & 2015) Merit Badge from Finnish Insurance Lawyers Association (2021) She supervises doctoral candidates and contributed to projects like The Customer and Internationalizing Financial Markets (2003-2007). Professional activities include memberships in the Olga ja Kaarle Oskari Laitisen Foundation and editorial work for Acta Legis Turkuensia.
Eveliina Ignatius is a Doctoral Researcher at the Faculty of Law , University of Helsinki . Her work focuses on Law , particularly in the domains of Constitutional Law , Human Rights Law , and Healthcare Policy . Role : Doctoral Researcher University : University of Helsinki School : Faculty of Law Research Interests : Eveliina's research examines legal frameworks governing healthcare prioritization, constitutional reforms, and fundamental rights in Finland. Her work bridges constitutional law , public policy , and social media regulation , with a focus on ethical and judicial dimensions. Publications Trends : Her recent publications emphasize healthcare priority setting (2025, 2024), constitutional challenges in Finland (2023, 2022), and the intersection of social media and fundamental rights (2023). Topics include legal analysis , economic impacts , and disability rights . Projects and Grants : Eveliina is involved in projects like Generation AI (2022–2025) funded by Finland's Strategic Research Council, Healthcare Service Prioritization (2021–2022), and Data Literacy for Responsible Decision-Making (2020–2023). Activities : She has presented at national forums (Priorisointifoorumi 2022, Yleislääkäripäivät 2022) and served as a board member in the Valtakunnallinen sosiaali- ja terveysalan eettinen neuvottelukunta (ETENE) since 2022.
Tarja Tuononen is a University Lecturer at the Department of Education, Faculty of Education, University of Helsinki, and a Docent in her field. She serves as a Supervisor for the Doctoral Programme in Cognition, Learning, Instruction and Communication and is affiliated with The Centre for University Teaching and Learning (HYPE). Faculty of Education, University of Helsinki Department of Education The Centre for University Teaching and Learning (HYPE) Her research focuses on students' employability, transitions from university to working life, working during studies, and the teaching of generic academic skills. She investigates teachers' conceptions of these skills and their alignment with pedagogical practices, informed by collaborations in educational sciences and psychology. Recent publications highlight her work in educational assessment, critical thinking, sustainability, and equity. She has contributed to 45 peer-reviewed outputs and led 8 research projects, including studies on distance learning during the pandemic and skill transfer to the labor market. Alfred Kordelin Foundation (2016) Emil Aaltonen Foundation (2014) Emil Aaltonen Foundation (2013) Tarja supervises doctoral and master’s theses and engages in international academic visits. Her projects address employability, learning outcomes, and inclusive education, reflecting her commitment to advancing pedagogical practices and institutional change.
Riitta-Liisa Kinni is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the Department of Social Sciences, University of Eastern Finland (UEF), within the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies. Her research focuses on gerontological social work, interprofessional collaboration, and complex needs of older adults, particularly in social service contexts. She holds a PhD in Social Sciences from UEF (2014), examining categorization practices in healthcare settings. Kinni leads the GERIT project (2021–2022) on gerontological social work and co-leads the Social Services Development in North Karelia project (2024–2026). She is affiliated with research groups including Critical Management and Organisational Studies in Health and Social Care (CMS 3.0) and the Social Scientific Biosociety Research Network (SOBIO). Her work emphasizes ethical service design, burnout management among employees, and systemic challenges in elderly care. Notable contributions include analyzing rotating service guidance challenges for older adults (2023) and exploring burnout-related return-to-work processes (2018). Kinni has authored over 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, focusing on topics like client safety in service planning, pandemic impacts on elderly care, and bridging theory-practice gaps in social work education. Key awards and fellowships: None explicitly mentioned. Professional roles include editorial contributions (e.g., 2021 editorial on research ethics).
Kaisa Näkki is a Doctoral Researcher at the Law School, University of Eastern Finland, affiliated with the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies. Her academic rank is Researcher. She specializes in dementia law, focusing on legal guardianship needs and mental capacity assessment in dementia cases. Research Interests: Elder Law and Legal Guardianship Mental Capacity Evaluation in Dementia Interdisciplinary Collaboration between Medicine and Law Human Rights of Dementia Patients Key Projects: Member of the Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration and Early Onset Dementia , Center of Law and Welfare , and Neuro-Ethics and Law Research Team research groups. Principal investigator for the project Shadows in Paradise? Rights of People with Dementia in a Welfare State (2022–2032). Publications: Focus on legal and medical perspectives of guardianship, including studies on diverging professional assessments and ethical implications. Recent work includes analyses of neuropsychiatric symptoms' impact on legal capacity. Funding: Supported by Finnish Brain Foundation, Kone Foundation, Olga and Kaarle Oskari Laitinen Foundation, and others.
Zheying Zhang is a Lecturer at Tampere University within the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences , Department of Computing Sciences . She holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Information Systems from the University of Jyväskylä (2004) and was awarded a Docent (Adjunct Professor) title in Software Development from the University of Tampere (2013). Education: Ph.D. (2004), Docent (2013) Her research focuses on Requirements Engineering , with specific interests in Requirements Analysis Domain Modelling AI-Assisted Requirements Management Software Quality Assurance Process Improvement Data-Driven Software Development Medical Device Software Current Master's thesis topics include AI for Software Engineering, DevOps pipelines, and cross-disciplinary software ethics. Recent publications highlight trends in AI applications for requirements management, software evolution analysis , and accessibility testing . She actively supervises PhD candidates like Xiaozhou Li and Wenhui Lu, with works spanning open-source projects and medical software quality. Scientific Contributions: 54 research outputs (2003-2025), including 3 2025 conference papers
Pauli Rautiainen is a University Lecturer in Social Law at the University of Eastern Finland's Department of Social Sciences within the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Administration. He holds additional roles as an Associate Professor of Public Law at the University of Helsinki and Constitutional Law at the University of Turku. His expertise spans public law, fundamental/human rights, equality, disability rights, and crisis management in healthcare systems. He has contributed to projects like the 'Disability and human dignity' initiative, focusing on societal hierarchies of disability and inclusive policies. Rautiainen's research emphasizes legal frameworks for marginalized groups, pandemic preparedness, and institutional resilience. Key publications include analyses of disability rights, healthcare crisis management, and historical injustices against deaf communities. His work bridges legal theory with practical policy, addressing issues such as employment equity for people with disabilities and the ethical dimensions of public health measures during crises. He is affiliated with the Welfare Law Center and Social Law Research Group, collaborating on interdisciplinary studies like the exploration of Finland's health system resilience. His recent articles highlight the intersection of law, policy, and societal challenges, advocating for equitable and transparent governance in both routine and crisis contexts.
Maija Hirvonen is a Full Professor in German language, culture, and translation at Tampere University's Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences. She leads BA, MA, and PhD programs in German linguistics and translation studies. As director of Langnet (Network of Doctoral Programmes in Language Sciences in Finland), she oversees multidisciplinary research initiatives. She co-leads the Tampere Accessibility Unit and the Multimodality in Translation and Interpreting research group, while also serving on the steering board of Plural (Research Centre for Languages and Cultures). Her research focuses on accessibility (especially audio-description), multimodal translation, distributed cognition, and human-centered machine learning. Notable grants include the Horizon Europe-funded NewWorkTech (2024-2027) and the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation's Guided Audio Captioning project (2022-2023). Hirvonen has supervised numerous MA and PhD students in German linguistics and translation studies. She actively contributes to academic governance via editorial roles (e.g., SKY Journal of Linguistics) and co-edits key publications like the 57th Linguistic Colloquium proceedings. Her work bridges theoretical research with practical applications in inclusive communication technologies.
Elisa Tiilikainen is an Assistant Professor in Social Work at the University of Eastern Finland's Department of Social Sciences. She holds a Doctorate in Political Science and is a Docent in Social Work. Her research focuses on aging populations, social exclusion, and elderly care services, with particular attention to social gerontology and the intersection of technology and healthcare in later life. Tiilikainen leads major projects funded by the Academy of Finland (SOLDEX) and Kone Foundation (DRIVEX), examining marginalization in home care and the impact of license loss on elderly men. She also coordinates Finland's sub-study in the Nordic HAIDI project on digital health service use among seniors. Her work bridges academic research with practical policy advocacy, emphasizing ethical dilemmas in care management and participatory intervention design. Research Interests: Gerontological social work practice Social exclusion mechanisms in aging populations Digital health accessibility for seniors Loneliness and isolation prevention strategies Policy implications of complex elder care needs Recent Projects: SOLDEX: Marginalization of Home Care Clients (2021-2025) DRIVEX: Cessation of Driving Among Older Adults (2025-2028) HAIDI: Digital Health Service Use in Nordic Countries (2022-2025) Key Awards: 2021 Graduate Prize of the Finnish Society of Gerontology for work on post-stroke social service use. Advocacy & Grants: Collaborates with NGOs and government agencies to translate research into policy. Published extensively on ethical challenges in elder care resource allocation and participatory care models.
Liina Sointu is a Lecturer at Tampere University's Unit of Social Research. Her work focuses on care systems, aging populations, healthcare policies, and social welfare dynamics. She contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to health and well-being (SDG 3), reduced inequalities (SDG 10), and sustainable cities (SDG 11). Her research explores caregiver violence, therapeutic culture in welfare systems, and the intersection of capitalism with healthcare. Recent studies analyze financialization of care, informal care networks, and policy impacts on vulnerable groups. Key publications include work on caregiver violence prevention, therapeutic culture critiques, and aging populations' neighborhood dynamics. She has been recognized with awards like the Tampere University societal impact prize (2019) and the Janus-palkinto (2014). Sointu actively reviews journals like International Journal of Health Planning and Management and Medical Humanities , and evaluates research proposals. She has supervised master's theses, including one on elderly care experiences in 2025.
Anni Nora is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Aalto University Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering , where she investigates neurocognitive mechanisms underlying speech and language processing. She earned her Master's degree in Social Sciences University of Helsinki in 2011 and leads the RCF Academy Project (2020-2025) focused on developmental language disorders and dyslexia. Her research integrates magnetoencephalography (MEG) and machine learning to study cortical dynamics in word learning , phonological processing , and memory systems . Active project: Developmental Language Disorder (Principal Investigator, 2020-2025) Key collaborations: University of Jyväskylä , University of Helsinki Her work explores speech processing and phoneme recognition deficits in children with developmental disorders. She has published extensively on cortical tracking mechanisms, temporal lobe function, and auditory cortex abnormalities. Her 2024 article in the Journal of Neuroscience demonstrated impaired speech cortical tracking in developmental language disorder, while her 2021 NeuroImage study linked dyslexia risk to left-hemispheric memory deficiencies . Earlier research (2017-2020) examined right-lateralized word learning , dynamic time-locking , and phonological short-term memory . She has presented findings at conferences since 2014, including 2023-2022 talks on speech processing deficits and 2017-2019 presentations on phonological learning. Media outlets like Aalto University Press (2021) and international news platforms have highlighted her work on nonsense word learning and dyslexia risk .
Nea Vänskä is a Senior Lecturer and Researcher at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, focusing on participatory research partnerships in pediatric rehabilitation. Her work emphasizes co-creation with children, youth, and families to improve health care transitions, meaningful participation, and equitable rehabilitation practices. She leads the Co-creating child & youth wellbeing R&D program, integrating collaborative methodologies across disciplines. Her research interests include participatory action research, disability inclusion, and child-centered approaches in health care. Notable projects involve developing tools like the CMAP Book to enhance children's participation in rehabilitation decisions, and the KIDMOVE project addressing athlete-centered coaching in youth sports. Publications highlight themes such as transition to adult healthcare for cerebral palsy patients, best practices in pediatric rehabilitation, and participatory research models. She has collaborated extensively with institutions like Kela (Finnish Social Insurance Institution) and Jyväskylä Polytechnic on strategic research frameworks and knowledge translation initiatives. Her work bridges academic research and practical application, emphasizing justice, joy, and shared mission in RDI partnerships. Ongoing efforts focus on co-curiosity frameworks and digital health innovations in participatory healthcare.