Maya is a second year doctoral student working with Dr. Wendy Heller. Following a slightly unconventional path, Maya pursued a B.A. in Architecture from Columbia University, and worked as an architect, a pastry chef specializing in sugar & chocolate showpiece design, and in business development before turning to Psychology. Prior to UIUC, Maya served as the Lab Coordinator for the Neuroscience, Emotion, Cognition & Psychopathology lab at Stony Brook University, supervised by Dr. Aprajita Mohanty. Focusing on neural activation associated to threat perception in anxiety, Maya quickly gravitated towards the intersection of neural function and emotional expression.

In her free time, Maya loves traveling, soccer & basketball, singing & dancing, cooking (but mostly eating), drawing, a good Netflix binge and being near the water.