Maya Butani
Maya Butani
Maya Butani is from Moorestown, New Jersey and studies molecular biology at Princeton University with minors in global health and engineering biology. In her career, she aims to reimagine biomedical research to benefit underserved communities around the world.
Maya researches topics across translational science, including plant-based tissue engineering scaffolds and collagen microgels for T-cell therapies. Her findings have been published in academic journals and presented at conferences. She has served as the president of Alimtas Bioventures, a bioentrepreneurship group, and the Princeton Biotech Group.
Maya also furthers health equity as a Senior Fellow for Princeton’s Pace Center for Civic Service. She founded a student organization called Creative Care, which designs equity-centered health solutions in collaboration with marginalized student communities. For this work, she has been awarded Princeton’s Santos-Dumont Prize for Innovation and Campus Impact Award. She was also awarded a Health Scholar Fellowship to fund her ongoing research.
In her senior thesis, Maya is studying rRNA modifications, a potential target for the treatment of neglected tropical diseases. In addition to her lab work, she is interviewing drug manufacturers, advocates, and clinicians to adapt her scientific research to global health realities.
Maya will study Immunology of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Then, she will earn an MPhil in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge. After the Marshall Scholarship, Maya plans to complete an MD-PhD to gain the research and clinical experience necessary to translate technologies from the lab to resource-poor environments.