Professor Maria serves as a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Human Rights Research at U of Manitoba. In recent years, she has conducted research and published works focusing on the repression and genocide of the spiritual group Falun Gong in China. Throughout her tenure of over twenty-five years, she has received multi-million-dollar research funding from organizations such as the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), SSHRC, and U of Manitoba grants. This funding has supported her research endeavors in areas such as women’s rights in China, the experiences of immigrants and refugees in Canada, and the lived experiences of Falun Gong communities.