Maria works as an advisor and senior researcher at 4FRONT, and has close to 20 years of experience in innovation research and  policy, digitalisation from humans perspective, and societal and organizational impact evaluations.

Maria’s main areas of expertise include innovative public procurement and demand-side innovation policy, innovation scaling, and digital and AI transformation in health and social sector. She has led or contributed to numerous national and international research and client projects e.g., funded by Business Finland, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Research Council of Finland, and the European Union. Her research has been published in leading international peer-reviewed journals, including Research Policy, Science and Public Policy, and the Journal of Public Procurement.

Maria holds a PhD in (human/economic) Geography from the University of Helsinki (2016). She has also served as President of the Geographical Society of Finland from 2019 to 2021.