Maia Casna is a PhD candidate in palaeopathology.

More information about Maia Casna

Office days

Monday to Friday

Research

Maia Casna’s main research interests involve palaeopathology as a tool to investigate the human past. Her current research at Leiden University explores the spread of respiratory infections (sinusitis, otitis, pulmonary diseases) in relation to urbanization and overpopulation in several medieval and post-medieval contexts from the Netherlands. As recent clinical studies have pointed out a huge health gap between higher and lower social classes due to both housing and working environments, with her work Maia aims to raise awareness on how everyday habits shaped human health in the past and how they continue to do so in the present.

Teaching activities

Maia is completing her teaching qualification (BKO) and occasionally lectures classes for Osteoarchaeology and Bioarchaeology. She also regularly supervises student theses in paleopathology and osteoarchaeology.

Curriculum vitae

Maia Casna (MSc) graduated in 2017 from a bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Bologna, Italy. She joined the Faculty of Archaeology at Leiden University in 2018 for a Master of Science in Osteoarchaeology, from which she graduated cum laude in 2019 with a thesis on the impact of environmental factors on the respiratory health of two post-medieval Dutch populations.
Since 2020, Maia is a member of the Diversity Committee at the Faculty of Archaeology.

In 2021, Maia was awarded the NWO “PhD in the Humanities” grant, which will allow her to pursue her doctoral research for four years.

Publications