Maria Patouna works as a Research Assistant at the Government Outcomes Lab of the Blavatnik School of Government. She supports a quantitative impact evaluation and cost effectiveness analysis for the Kirklees Better Outcomes Partnership project, a social impact bond commissioned under the Life Chances Fund. Her work focuses on employing quantitative quasi-experimental methodology to assess the effect of the outcome-based commissioning model on the time in employment, earnings and utilisation of housing support benefits of vulnerable adults.
Maria is currently completing her MSc in Data Science and Public Policy at the University College London and holds a BSc in Politics and International Relations also from UCL.
In the past, she has been a part of research and policy initiatives with the UCL Policy Lab, the Migration Cluster, the Law & Courts Cluster and the Department of Education, Practice and Society (IOE).
She has experience in leveraging big data, advanced quantitative methods and predictive modelling, focusing on delivering actionable evidence-based insights.