In addition to being a full-time PhD candidate, Maria is a mom to three beautiful girls. Maria likes to play video games with her oldest daughter and make crafts with her youngest. She is also a founder of the Alisha Jilani Foundation, through which she raises funds to support other families that are going through cancer treatment in loving memory of her daughter, Alisha.
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Maria is a SSHRC-funded doctoral candidate at the University of Western Ontario whose research examines how institutional decision-making shapes inequalities in population health. Drawing on expertise in social and structural inequality, advanced statistical analysis, and data visualization, her work sits at the intersection of life course perspectives and health equity. Her dissertation investigates policymaking processes in highly institutionalized settings during times of crisis and their impacts on marginalized populations.
Maria holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the Smith School of Business, a Master’s in Leadership and Policy from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto, and was a Fellow with the Consortium on Analytics for Data-Driven Decision-Making (CAnD3) at McGill University.
"My year spent at two different children’s hospitals shaped my understanding of the role that social institutions play in alleviating or exacerbating social inequalities"
"My year spent at two different children’s hospitals shaped my understanding of the role that social institutions play in alleviating or exacerbating social inequalities"
“This research area is inspired by my daughter, Alisha, who was diagnosed with brain cancer shortly before the pandemic,” shares Maria. “My year spent at two different children’s hospitals shaped my understanding of the role that social institutions play in alleviating or exacerbating social inequalities.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, these social institutions providing support to patients and caregivers were strained or altogether stripped away, deemed as “non-essential”. Maria says that she sees the reverberations of these policy decisions on mental health today, with greater impacts on minority populations who rely on social supports to compensate for other disadvantages.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, these social institutions providing support to patients and caregivers were strained or altogether stripped away, deemed as “non-essential”. Maria says that she sees the reverberations of these policy decisions on mental health today, with greater impacts on minority populations who rely on social supports to compensate for other disadvantages.
"I have a passion for data visualization and making research accessible to the general public."
"I have a passion for data visualization and making research accessible to the general public."
Maria is adept at using Stata and R to perform quantitative data analysis and uses advanced data visualization techniques to convey her findings. She also brings with her a wealth of knowledge on qualitative research methods, such as interviews and ethnographic research. As a Graduate Teaching Assistant, Maria has supported following courses to date: Sociology of Healthcare; Thinking Sociologically; Gender and Society; Statistics for Sociology; Qualitative Research Methods; and Environmental Sociology.
"I have a passion for data visualization and making research accessible to the general public. This means I'm big on knowledge dissemination and am always looking for opportunities to learn new methods." Maria's goal upon graduation is to work in the federal research sector examining health inequities and public policies.
"I have a passion for data visualization and making research accessible to the general public. This means I'm big on knowledge dissemination and am always looking for opportunities to learn new methods." Maria's goal upon graduation is to work in the federal research sector examining health inequities and public policies.
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