Maria obtained a Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences with a major in Migration and Integration at the Catholic University of Mainz, Germany. Throughout her undergraduate studies and a research stay at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre, Brazil, she specialized in migration, gender, women’s roles in sports, and Olympic studies. Expanding her international scope at Riga Stradiņš University in Latvia, she broadened her expertise into Eastern European politics and communication studies. She later completed an interdisciplinary Master's degree in Medicine-Ethics-Law at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, researching ethical burdens and challenges for oncological nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Driven by her interest in the digital transformation of healthcare, Maria is currently a fellow in the PhD Excellence Program at the Digital Society Initiative (DSI), University of Zurich, where her research centers on AI agents and health misinformation. Alongside her doctorate, she works in the DSI management office and actively contributes to the DSI Communities Ethics, Work, and Health.

• Interdisciplinary Research
• Digital Transformation
• Public Health
• Clinical Ethics & Ethics in Healthcare
• Marginalized & At-Risk Populations
• Institutional Responsibilities
• Stakeholder Communication
• AI Agents in Healthcare