Itla donates 2 professorships to Turku, Oulu universities

The Itla Children’s Foundation donates two professorships, one to the University of Turku and the other to the University of Oulu.

The research field of the donated professorships is intervention and implementation research, said a press release issued by the University of Turku.

The professorships are unique in the research of children’s well-being in Finland and are also globally significant.

The professorships will focus on the research of interventions improving the well-being and mental health of children, adolescents, and families and their implementation.

In the University of Turku, the professor will be working at the Research Centre for Child Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine and the professorship is linked to INVEST, a flagship research project funded by the Academy of Finland.

“Over the past ten years, the Research Centre for Child Psychiatry has developed into a globally significant unit investigating the development mechanisms of mental health disorders and developing early intervention based on research results. Finnish children have the right to efficient, evidence-based treatment for mental health disorders in early stage and with low threshold. The professorship donated by Itla gives us the opportunity to bring international top researchers into our operations and to implement evidence-based interventions. This has great significance for the well-being of children and gives us an opportunity to promote the operational models developed in Finland globally,” said Professor Andre Sourander from the Research Centre for Child Psychiatry of the University of Turku.