Academician of Science Riitta Hari

Riitta Hari (b. 1948) is an internationally recognised and respected neuroscientist. She has developed methods and applications of human brain imaging and thereby contributed decisively to the progress of this branch of science.

Hari and her team are widely known for their long-standing work in developing magnetoencephalography (MEG) and its applications. MEG picks up the weak magnetic fields of the brain, providing information about brain processing with millisecond resolution. The results have multiple applications in basic research, but also in the diagnostics and follow-up of brain diseases.

Hari has been granted several prestigious awards and recognitions both abroad and in Finland, including an honorary doctorate from the University of Lisbon in 2003, the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine in Switzerland in 2003, the Justine and Yves Sergent Prize for Cognitive Neuroscience in Canada in 2002 and the Award for the Advancement of European Science in Germany in 1987, and the Finnish Science Award in 2009, an honorary doctorate from the University of Kuopio in 2005 and the Matti Äyräpää Award in 2001.

Hari received the honorary title of Academician of Science in 2010.