ABOUT US
About us
Asimina Ralli is a Professor of Developmental Psychology in the Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). Her research focuses on the developmental trajectories of language, as well as the relationships between language skills and the cognitive and socio-emotional development of children and adolescents. Her work also addresses school readiness and the impact of digital technologies on child development. She has published more than 100 articles in international peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes. She is the author of three books, the editor of six books and special issues, and the co-creator of six psychometric instruments designed to assess preschool children’s language skills and school readiness, including the Preschool Children’s Skills Assessment Scale and the Preschool Children’s School Readiness Assessment Scale. She is a member of the Hellenic Psychological Society of Greece.
Olympia Palikara is a Professor of Educational Psychology and Deputy Chair of the Faculty of Social Sciences (External Engagement) in University of Warwick. Her research interests concern the educational and psychosocial outcomes of neurodivergent children and young people. She is also particularly interested in the effect of educational transitions, including from primary to secondary education and secondary education to post-compulsory education on children's mental health and wellbeing. Previous studies have been funded by Baily Thomas Charitable Fund, British Academy, the Economic and Social Research Council and Williams Syndrome Foundation. Olympia has written over 60 peer-reviewed articles and two co-edited books. Olympia is past Convener of the Psychology in Education Standing Committee of the European Federation of Psychologists' Association (EFPA) and past co-chair of the Division of Educational and Child Psychology (DECP) of the British Psychological Society.
Eleni Kalliontzi is a Speech and Language Therapist working at the Community Mental Health Center for Children and Adolescents (KOKEPSYPE) in Nea Smyrni, Athens. She completed her undergraduate studies in the Department of Philology (Department of Linguistics) at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Athens, her postgraduate studies in the Department of Clinical Communication Studies at City, University of London and her PhD in the Department of Psychology at the University of Athens. Her research interests focus on the study of typical language development and Developmental Language Disorder in children.
Vicky Eirinaki holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Roehampton, London, with a specialization in the assessment and enhancement of the mother–infant relationship. Her doctoral research, funded by the Froebel Trust, focused on the impact of postnatal depression on the mother–infant relationship and infant developmental outcomes. She studied Psychology at Panteion University in Athens and completed her MSc in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. Since 2014, she has worked as a lecturer at universities in both the UK and Greece, including the University of Roehampton, the American College of Greece (Deree), the University of West Attica, and the Hellenic Open University. She currently teaches in the undergraduate program of the Department of Social Work at the University of West Attica and in the postgraduate program “Applied Developmental Psychology” at the Hellenic Open University. She also delivers lectures in postgraduate programs within the Departments of Biomedical Sciences and Midwifery at the School of Health and Care Sciences, University of West Attica. Since 2014, she has been actively involved in research, participating in international research projects across the UK, Greece, and the USA, and has served as an Honorary Researcher at Bethlem Royal Hospital. Her research interests focus on developmental psychology, with particular emphasis on learning difficulties and child and adolescent psychopathology, the early mother–infant relationship, as well as the investigation of factors that contribute to developmental trajectories and mental health. She has published in international peer-reviewed journals, presented her work at numerous international conferences, serves as a reviewer for the journal Frontiers, and is a member of the Greek Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH).
Dimitra Karagiannopoulou is a greek literature teacher and special education teacher. Her field of research is language and learning disabilities. She specializes in the development of written language and in addressing the difficulties that affect written expression. Dimitra Karagiannopoulou works in public schools as a language arts teacher and as a school life counselor, providing psychosocial support to students. She also she collaborates with an interdisciplinary team at special education centers to holistically address the needs of children and adolescents with special educational needs. She assesses and designs an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for each child, based on their individual needs and abilities.
