Marja Laasonen

Marja Laasonen is a psychologist, special psychologist of clinical neuropsychology, and teacher. Since 2021, she has been a professor of logopedics and the head of the subject at the University of Eastern Finland. In addition, she works as an adjunct professor and principal investigator at the University of Helsinki, as well as directs research at the Helsinki University Hospital. Previously, Marja Laasonen has held professorships in psychology and logopedics at the University of Turku and worked as a university lecturer in clinical neuropsychology specialisation at the Department of Psychology at the University of Helsinki.

Laasonen has extensive experience in clinical neuropsychology and has been conducting research on developmental and learning difficulties for over 20 years. Her research areas have included dyslexia, ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, and developmental language disorder. In her most important current project, Laasonen focuses on developmental language disorder in a longitudinal setting and at multiple levels of analysis, ranging from genetics and brain research to multilingualism and interaction: https://www.hus.fi/helsli-seurantatutkimus The project applies advanced machine learning methods, comparisons to international cohorts, and register-based research.

In education development, Laasonen has promoted blended and digital practices, and most recently, artificial intelligence experiments. She also utilises the possibilities of artificial intelligence in science communication and in making scientific knowledge accessible to the public: https://twitter.com/ChildDMatters