Maria obtained her BSc in Psychology from the University of Roehampton in 2009. She then went on to the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, KCL where she obtained her MSc in Psychiatric Research Methods in 2010. 

Maria worked as a researcher at the IoP between 2010 and 2021, where she obtained her PhD in Clinical Neuroscience, and primariy taught on a MSc in Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences. 

She has a strong background in Special Educational Needs and Mentoring across a diverse student population.

Maria's main research interests are Neurodevelopment disorders and genetic deletions/duplications.

In particular, Maria is interested in the significate rates of ASD in the 22q11.2DS population. To date, she has contributed significantly to a better understanding of ASD phenotype in this population, especially on a neuroanatomical level. She hopes that her work will ultimately help toward more targeted interventions and treatments for both this population and populations of other genetic disorders. 

Maria is part of large international consortiums for 22q11.2DS research

The ENIGMA-22q working group which aims to carry out meta-analyses of esisting MRi & DTI data sets - over 500 cases and comparable healthy individuals.
http://enigma.ini.usc.edu/ongoing/enigma-22q-working-group/

The International 22q.2 Brain Bhaviour Consortium
http://www.22q11-ibbc.org/about/