Maria Derbani is a graduate research supervisor and second year Master's candidate in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago. Maria leads a project under the Minerva Initiative that focuses on analyzing propaganda mechanisms of militant groups such as the Taliban, ISIS and al-Shabab. Her personal research investigates the weaponization of health care in Syria. Maria is an alumni of the University of Florida and expects to graduate from the University of Chicago in the spring of 2019.