Maria Ahmed is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Sociology at the University of Western Ontario. Her research interests lie at the intersection of population research and public policy, with a focus on structural and social inequalities. She specializes in mixed-methods research using large-scale survey and administrative data to examine population-level inequities, with expertise in policy analysis and advanced data visualization. Her current research examines the financial and mental health impacts of caregiving using Canadian General Social Survey data. 

Maria was previously a SSHRC Doctoral Fellow (2023–2026) and a CAnD3 Fellow (2023–2024). Maria received her master’s in leadership and policy from the University of Toronto and bachelor’s from the Smith School of Business at Queen's University. She is also the founder and CEO of the Alisha Jilani Foundation, a national non-profit organization that provides financial and psychosocial support to families navigating pediatric cancer and long-term hospitalization.