Tina Malti is a child psychologist, registered clinical psychologist, and author.

 

She holds an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship of Early Child Development and Health at Leipzig University, where she leads the Humboldt Research Group for Child Development. She is the Founding Director of the Humboldt Science Center for Child Development at Leipzig University and the Centre for Child Development, Mental Health, and Policy at the University of Toronto. Dr. Malti is also president of the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development (ISSBD).

 

Over the past two decades, Dr. Malti has conducted and directed multidisciplinary research, training, and policy efforts on positive child development and mental health in children from all walks of life. Based on this work and a humanistic approach to child development, her team creates and implements strategies that help children reach their full potential, overcome the negative effects of exposure to trauma and violence, and cultivate kindness. Tina Malti works closely with local and international communities and agencies to provide and act on evidence to improve the healthy development of all children and reduce exposure to trauma and violence across diverse contexts.

 

Tina has an exceptional track record of achievements and impact in research and its influence on practice and policy. She has authored over 240 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of child development, mental health, and intervention research. She has been awarded various national and international grants, including a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Foundation Scheme Grant in support of her cutting-edge research. Tina is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Division 7: Developmental Psychology and Division 53: Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology) and the Association for Psychological Science. In 2024, she was elected as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, one of the highest honours for individuals in the Canadian health sciences community.

She has received several major awards for her research. For example, she has been named recipient of Germany’s most valuable international research award, the 2023 Alexander von Humboldt Professorship. In 2019, she was the recipient of the Desmond Morton Research Excellence Award in Science by the University of Toronto Mississauga. Her research has also been featured by the New York Times, The Atlantic, and other media outlets.

 

As a scholar with a blended cultural heritage, Tina feels fortunate to work with an extraordinarily dedicated, talented, and diverse team of undergraduate students, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and inspiring colleagues in over 25 countries on five continents.