Maya Burhanpurkar (born February 14, 1999) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

investment banker and former researcher.

Personal life

Burhanpurkar was born in

Orillia Orillia () is a city in Ontario, Canada, about 30 km (18 mi) north-east of Barrie in Simcoe County. It is located at the confluence of Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a Lis ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and completed high school in 2016 at Barrie North Collegiate Institute. She was an undergraduate majoring in physics at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

. She has been awarded a

Rhodes scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

to study Computer Science and the Philosophy of Physics at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

Career

At the age of 10, Burhanpurkar built a microbiology lab in her family basement and began conducting scientific experiments after volunteering in a hospital in India. Two years later, she developed an intelligent-antibiotic which selectively kills

pathogenic bacteria Pathogenic bacteria are bacteria that can cause disease. This article focuses on the bacteria that are pathogenic to humans. Most species of bacteria are harmless and many are Probiotic, beneficial but others can cause infectious diseases. The nu ...

such as E-coli but preserves intestinal microbiota. When she was 13, she received the Platinum Award at the

Canada-Wide Science Fair Started in 1962, the Canadian-Wide Science Fair (abbreviated as CWSF) is an annual science fair in Canada coordinated by Youth Science Canada. Finalists qualify from approximately 25,000 competitors at over 100 Youth Science Canada-affiliated regi ...

for her work on the

cardiac The heart is a muscular organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the tissu ...

and

gastrointestinal The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The tract is the largest of the body's systems, after the cardiovascular system. ...

safety of two

Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

drugs. Burhanpurkar was inspired to study the safety of Alzheimer's drugs after the death of her grandfather from Alzheimer's disease. At the age of 14, Burhanpurkar conducted fundamental physics research for which she was again awarded the Platinum Award at the Canada-Wide Science fair. She made the first physical detection of absement with a team in Steve Mann's lab, competed at the

Intel International Science and Engineering Fair The Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) is an annual science fair in the United States. It is owned and administered by the Society for Science, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. Each May, more ...

, and was selected as a regional finalist for the 2013 Google Science Fair. She filmed a documentary on the

effects of climate change Effects of climate change are well documented and growing for Earth's natural environment and human societies. Changes to the climate system include an Instrumental temperature record, overall warming trend, Effects of climate change on the ...

on Inuit communities featuring Chris Hadfield and

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...

after an expedition to the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

which received the international Gloria Barron prize. In 2013, Burhanpurkar was named one of Canada's Top 20 Under 20. She was a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012) and was the Ontario Junior Citizen of the Year (2010).

References

External links

personal web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burhanpurkar, Maya 1999 births Living people 21st-century Canadian inventors Marathi people People from Orillia 21st-century women inventors Harvard College alumni Canadian Rhodes Scholars