Maria completed a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences at Trinity College Dublin and then moved to Cardiff University to work on development of innovative microneedle-based technologies for the delivery of small molecules, peptides, proteins and nucleic acids into the skin. Maria has extensive experience in the microneedle field and has used a range of microneedle prototypes in pre-clinical and clinical projects.

She is currently lead researcher in an international collaboration between key international stakeholders (Microneedle Array Patch (MAP) Regulatory Working Group), which aims to advance the regulatory science of microneedle-based dosage forms by informing future guidance and developing standardized test methods for proposed MAP products.