For more than 20 years, Maria has served as a specialized research professional with WashU Medicine. She was the project manager for two studies funded by the National Cancer Institute, including an observational cohort study of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients and controls without a history of breast cancer as well as a randomized controlled trial of a culturally tailored, interactive cancer-communication intervention for newly diagnosed African American breast cancer patients. She managed the Health Behavior, Communication and Outreach Core, directed by Donna Jeffe, PhD, which provided services in behavioral science, health education and communication, and program evaluation to investigators engaged in Prevention and Control and Clinical/Translational research. She also managed the Research Training and Career Development Annual Meeting, funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute, as a venue for trainees from the undergraduate to post-doctoral level in the fields of genome sciences, medicine, and ethical, legal and social implications to present their research and collaborate with other trainees and faculty across the United States. Since joining the Office of Education, she has managed two medical education research studies, one funded by the Association of American Medical Colleges Group on Education Affairs to further assess issues of racial/ethnic and gender bias in medical students’ clerkship grades, and another to help identify factors associated with fellows’ decisions to consider a faculty position at the academic medical institution where they trained. She recently served as project manager of a study funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to identify interventions that can increase the diversity of physician-scientists in the biomedical-research workforce. In conjunction with leadership, Maria supervises, coordinates, and implements medical education research and program evaluation projects (PE/CQI) for the advancement of educational programs at WashU Medicine.
Select publications
- Pérez M, Freeman WE, Lu Y, Jeffe DB. Factors associated with academic-medicine faculty attrition before promotion to senior rank: A national-cohort study. PLoS One. 2026 Sep 2;21(9):e0355830. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0355830. PMID: 42684990; PMCID: PMC13537596.
- Hanson JL, Pérez M, Lu Y, Aagaard EM, Jeffe DB. Retention of fellows to the faculty at a research-intensive academic medical center: a mixed-methods study. Med Educ Online. 2026 Dec 31;31(1):2714642. doi: 10.1080/10872981.2026.2714642. Epub 2026 Aug 7. PMID: 42566296; PMCID: PMC13455691.
- Gerull KM, Pérez M, Cipriano CA, Jeffe DB. Evolution of Medical Students’ Interest in Orthopaedic Surgery Careers from Matriculation to Graduation. JBJS Open Access. 2024 Jul 2;9(3):e24.00019. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.OA.24.00019. PMID: 38957705; PMCID: PMC11216667.
- Gerull KM, Pérez M, Cipriano CA, Jeffe DB. Orthopaedic Surgery Attrition Before Board Certification: A National-Cohort Study of US MD Graduates in Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Programs. JBJS Open Access. 2024 May 20;9(2):e23.00175. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.OA.23.00175. PMID: 38770154; PMCID: PMC11101223.
- Rosen MS, Pérez M, Colson ER, De Fer TM, Aagaard EM, O’Connor B. Reimagining the Psychiatry Clerkship: The Washington University School of Medicine Story. Acad Psychiatry. 2024 Jun;48(3):268-272. doi: 10.1007/s40596-024-01964-0. Epub 2024 Apr 3. PMID: 38570408.