Research Interests: Maria is interested in using mixed methodology and implementation science to engage in community-based participatory research to better understand supportive housing needs and to create interventions to achieve longer-term housing success. Additionally, she is interested in exploring the effects of urban planning on community health and safety. 

Career Interests: Maria aspires to practice community-based primary care while building partnerships with local government and community organizations to implement community health interventions that help improve outcomes for people experiencing homelessness.  

Biography: Dr. Maria Patanwala graduated with a BA in Molecular Cell Biology and Social Welfare from University of California, Berkeley where she began working on issues related to homelessness at the Suitcase Clinic, a student-run multi-service center in Berkeley, CA. She served with AmeriCorps in Northern California with the Redwood Empire Food Bank on an initiative to address food insecurity as a component of diabetes prevention. She then received her medical degree with honors from University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. At UCSF she was part of the Program in Medical Education for the Urban Underserved (PRIME-US) and PROF-PATH Research Fellowship Program where she completed both quantitative and qualitative studies on symptom experience among older adults experiencing homelessness in Oakland, CA. During medical school she also helped lead a student-run homeless clinic and facilitated support groups at an adult shelter in San Francisco, CA. She completed her internship and residency in Internal Medicine Primary Care at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. As an NCSP Scholar, Maria will collaborate and complete clinical requirements at the Greater Los Angeles Veteran’s Administration Hospital.