Maria is a student in the ARC-MD pathway at UC Davis School of Medicine and joined the Zhang lab in July 2026. In this pathway, students dedicate one year between the 3rd and 4th years of medical school as a research-intensive year. Maria is originally from Long Beach, CA and earned a B.S. in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior from UC Davis in 2019. After graduation, she spent 3.5 years at UCSF in Tippi Mackenzie’s lab developing in utero gene therapies. In the Zhang lab, she will be supported by the Daniel T. O’Connor Memorial Research Grant to study the maternal fetal interface. In her free time, she enjoys reading, pilates, and trying new coffee shops.
