Honglin Chen ([email protected])
Dr. Honglin Chen is a Professor of Gerontological Social Work at the Department of Social Sciences and Business, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio. Her scholarly work centers on digital health interventions and cross-cultural care policies, with a particular emphasis on aging populations.
Professor Chen has led and contributed to numerous international research initiatives, including AI for mindful care and aging: Navigating vulnerability in the use and implementation of automated home care (AMICA), funded by NordForsk, the EU-funded projects “DigiWELL – Digital Technology and Welfare Research” & “Empowering social work practice education in Nepal”, as well as studies commissioned by the World Health Organization focusing on multi-sector collaboration strategies for promoting healthy aging. Her interdisciplinary research integrates perspectives from social sciences, social work, healthcare, and ethics to advance the development and implementation of welfare technologies in old age care.
Her interdisciplinary research integrates perspectives from social sciences, social work, social and healthcareto advance the development and implementation of welfare technologies in old age care.
Hung Trinh ([email protected])
Hung is a Doctoral Researcher in Computer Science at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF), School of Computing. His research focuses on Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI), AI education, AI literacy, trustworthy AI, human-centered machine learning, and Human–AI Interaction.
His doctoral research investigates how learners, particularly K–12 students, interpret AI explanations, how explanations affect trust and decision-making, and how misleading or incomplete explanations can create misconceptions about AI systems.
Hung is currently developing interactive educational AI tools that make model behavior more visible and understandable to learners. His work includes extending the GenAI Teachable Machine with explainability and transfer-learning inspection features that help students explore model predictions, pretrained representations, class relationships, and model limitations. He is also developing Sound Mimic, an explainable audio-classification learning environment where students train sound classifiers, interact with model predictions, inspect time-frequency explanations, and revise their data or strategies based on model behavior.
His broader research interests include explainable deep learning, model transparency, responsible AI, representation learning, computer vision, educational technology, and AI applications in healthcare. His work combines machine learning, XAI methods, interactive system design, and empirical evaluation to support more transparent, trustworthy, and educationally meaningful AI systems.
IASSW Nordic Baltic Regional Resource Centre
There are similar regional centres funded by the International Association of Schools of Social Work RRCs in other regions of the world such as China, Oceania and Eastern Africa. Our network of university partners is committed to exchange and communication across participating countries for the promotion of global social work education (including fieldwork) and the recognition of best examples of innovative and transformative social work research and practice.
We seek to create new opportunities for active partnership in teaching and research on the contemporary issues such as sustainability, diversity, inequality, migration and promote the regional professional profile of social work education and research. The centre is coordinated by the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany and University of Eastern Finland, Finland, higher education institutions with a longstanding commitment to global social work education and scholarship. The current coordinators of this centre are Professors Chaitali Das, (FUAS), Janet Carter Anand (UEF).
Ida Antikainen ([email protected])
My doctoral research focuses on compositional changes in subchondral bone and calcified cartilage during the early stages of osteoarthritis. The study utilizes an experimental tissue culture model and bioreactor experiments to investigate the mechanisms underlying the development of osteoarthritis. My background in clinical work with musculoskeletal disorders helps me in achieving a broader understanding of the phenomena under investigation and their clinical significance.
Idaliia Fedotova ([email protected])
I am a doctoral researcher in general linguistics at the University of Eastern Finland. My dissertation investigates language contact in Siberia among four unrelated language families: Uralic, Turkic, Tungusic, and Yeniseian. My research lies at the intersection of linguistic typology and language reconstruction, aiming to uncover contact-induced changes and contribute to models of language evolution. I am particularly interested in areality and convergence between structurally different languages.
IDDP
The study is aiming to develop dietary counseling on maternity clinics for promoting the current and future health of both the mother and the child and reduce the risks caused by obesity and GDM. The study is conducted in collaboration with researchers in nursing science and clinical nutrition.
Iina Järvinen ([email protected])
I work as a university lecturer. I teach courses in welfare law and supervise theses.
Inequality, as a complex and multidimensional phenomenon, lies at the heart of my research. I am interested in understanding how inequality is produced and reproduced, and how it can be reduced. My research has explored these issues from a range of perspectives, including education and poverty.
Through my teaching and research, I seek to contribute to a more just and inclusive society where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, especially those who are in vulnerable situations.
My list of publications is available here.
Iira Tiitta ([email protected])
I am a university teacher and postdoctoral researcher in nursing science at the University of Eastern Finland, specializing in climate–health and planetary health within nursing and healthcare. My doctoral research focuses on integrating the health effects of climate change into nursing education and clinical practice. I have developed research-based framework that support healthcare professionals in identifying and addressing climate-related health risks.
My research interest include climate health, planetary health and development of nursing education
Iiris Lehto ([email protected])
I work as a postdoctoral researcher at DataLit-project. The project investigates use of data as well as development and use of new tools for data-based decision-making in social and healthcare public organizations. The project examines current practices and development projects, as well as their institutional and societal implications and impacts. One of the starting points is to study and evaluate especially the possibilities of using tools and models, which are not based on profiling individuals.