The Seminar is held in memory of our dear colleague Pål Surén.
The seminar is at Litteraturhuset on 25 September 2025, organized by the PsychGen Centre, the Autism Study and the Division for Public Health and Prevention at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
In-person attendance is limited—register early to secure your spot (deadline: September 11, 2025). Digital participation is also available (we will send you a link at a later date). Attendance is free.
Program
16:00 Welcome – Dagfinn Mørkrid Thøgersen, Director Område for folkehelse og forebygging, NIPH
16:05 The Autism Study at FHI and the increase in autism diagnoses in Norway – Alexandra Havdahl, Center Leader, PsychGen Centre, NIPH
16:25 The Pål Surén Honorary Lecture: “Changes in the Concept of Autism Over the Past Four Decades” – Francesca Happé, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, King’s College London
17:30 Mingling and light refreshments
We hope you will join us and look forward to this opportunity for knowledge sharing and networking!
About Professor Francesca Happé
For over 30 years, Professor Francesca Happé has focused her research on autism. Her work has explored social understanding in neurotypical development and mentalising difficulties in autism. Francesca is also actively engaged in studies of strengths and abilities in autism, and how these relate to a detail-focused cognitive style. Her recent research includes mental health in the autism spectrum and under-researched subgroups such as women and older adults.
Her research methods have included cognitive experiments, functional neuroimaging, studies of acquired brain lesions, and behavioral genetics approaches.
She is a Fellow of the British Academy and the Academy of Medical Sciences, past President of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR; 2013–2015), and has received the British Psychological Society’s Spearman Medal and President’s Award, the Experimental Psychology Society Prize, and the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award. She was also appointed CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for her contributions to autism research.
Francesca is co-author/editor of several recent books, including: Autism: A New Introduction to Psychological Theory and Debate (with Sue Fletcher-Watson), Girls and Autism: Educational, Family and Personal Perspectives (with Barry Carpenter and Jo Egerton), and Learning From Autistic Teachers: How to be a Neurodiversity-Inclusive School (with Rebecca Wood and colleagues).
