Maya Jotwani

Maya Jotwani is a rising junior at Pomona College in California majoring in Neuroscience. Her passion in learning about the brain as well as her experience in helping loved ones cope with mental health issues led her to her interests in mental health. Having lived in India, Japan, and now in the U.K., Maya is particularly interested in learning about how mental health programs can be developed and implemented effectively in different international contexts.

As a research assistant to Dr. Pamela Scorza in the GMHP Internship Program, Maya conducted literature reviews for two different grant proposals: the impact of the oxytocin system on pregnant women and mother-infant bonding after trauma and a maternal skin-to-skin contact intervention to improve mental health. She also sorted over 4,000 variables in an extensive data set to be utilized in a study investigating long-term childhood adversity and its associations with mental health outcomes. These studies will highlight the pathways in which trauma is transmitted through generations and will elucidate the interventions which can help mitigate these effects in low-resourced communities. Going forward, Maya hopes to use her experience at the Global Mental Health Program to inform her future endeavors as she pursues a medical career in neurology or psychiatry.