Researcher in various research groups like cancer research (INEXCA), quinoa food innovation research (Clinical Research Nurse in Disruptive Green Project) and recently in COVID research group (Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme Covid-19 Response Umbrella Project). Issues related to precision medicine, personalized care, and the integration of genomics in nursing education are my main areas of interest and are also related to my dissertation.

Hi! I’m Helena, a PhD researcher in social psychology. Nice of you to check out my profile! 😊

I am currently finishing my dissertation on populism. In my dissertation, I aim to explore the appeal of populism through qualitative research. My dissertation is part of a broader research project called Mobilizing Populism led by Professor Inari Sakki of the University of Helsinki.

My research is based on interview data collected in the research project in 2021. In these interviews, we discussed with voters of different Finnish parties different political issues, such as immigration and populism, and the reasons for their voting decisions. In my research, I have focused primarily on examining the divisions between ‘us’ and ‘them’ as constructed in the interviewees’ talk. The sub-studies of my dissertation have been published in social psychology journals and I actively communicate about my research on my LinkedIn profile. The sub-studies are listed below:

Rovamo, H., Pettersson, K., & Sakki, I. (2023). Who’s to blame for failed integration of immigrants? Blame attributions as an affectively polarizing force in lay discussions of immigration in Finland. Political Psychology, 45(2), 235–258. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12917

Rovamo, H., & Sakki, I. (2023). Lay representations of populism: discursive negotiation of naturalized social representation. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology., 34(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2755

Rovamo, H., & Sakki, I. (2024). Mobilization of shared victimhood in the radical right populist Finns Party supporters’ identity work: A narrative-discursive approach to populist support. European Journal of Social Psychology, 54(2), 495–512. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.3021

Since spring 2024, I have been working as part of a research project called Intergroup Relations and Local Encounters, led by Jari Martikainen from the University of Eastern Finland and funded by the Kone Foundation. The research project focuses on studying how Ukrainian, Middle Eastern, and Finnish young people living in the Savo area perceive each other, their lives, and their future in multicultural Savo.

Alongside my research, I teach and supervise students in social psychology.

Before my studies in social sciences, I graduated as a nurse from the Savonia University of Applied Sciences. I consider that my professional strengths are, on the one hand, my ability to be analytical and systematic and, on the other, my ability to listen and have empathy towards others.

In my work, I get excited about learning or practicing something new every day. I enjoy conversations and listening to others. I sometimes immerse myself in details, but I also love to outline big patterns.

Dr. Mina Azimirad (PhD, MNSc, BSc, RN) is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF). As an enthusiastic and passionate researcher, Dr. Azimirad has been involved in several research projects, where formed an international network, and study visits to the University of Genova (Italy), University of Thessaly (Greece), AWV & AFBB (Germany), Northumbria University (UK), Surrey University (UK), University of Limerick (Ireland), University of Østfold (Norway), and Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland).

Dr. Azimirad’s research interest mainly focuses on medical emergency teams and nurses’ competencies in managing deteriorating patients. Dr. Azimirad has received a significant amount of competitive research grant (77,400 €) including a 12,000 € travel grant (to an Australian university and the National University of Singapore) for her post-doc research proposal, and published 14 peer-reviewed journal articles, 12 publications intended for professional communities and the general public, published one book chapter, and supervised a Master’s degree nursing student. She has presented 17 research studies at national and international conferences and was a chairman at the latest HTTS conference (Kansallinen hoitotieteellinen konferenssi).

The post-doc research study (eTSiMMe project) main members are Dr. Mina azimirad (UEF), Prof. Hannele Turunen (UEF), Prof. Roman Bednarik (UEF), and our international collaborator from the National University of Singapore Prof. He Hong-Go. The project also has members from the Kuopio University Hospital ICU department who will help us in implementing the project. The project focuses on the assessment of teamwork and shared mental models within the MET.