Maria Santos is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at California State University, San Bernardino since 2018. She was born and raised in Los Angeles by Guatemalan parents and earned a BA degree in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. She went on to complete graduate studies in clinical psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM).
After earning her doctoral degree in 2016, Maria joined the Culture & Mental Health Lab in the Department of Psychology at University of Southern California (USC) as a Postdoctoral Scholar – Research Associate. At USC, she solidified her interest in addressing engagement issues particularly for Latinos with first-episode psychosis (FEP).
Her postdoctoral project focused on empirically investigating whether a relationship exists between behavioral activation and FEP-relevant outcomes. She am continuing that research as part of a NIMH-funded career development award.