Overview

Dr. Maa is a comprehensive ophthalmologist providing medical and surgical eye care for Veterans within the Veterans' Health Administration (VHA) in both Atlanta and Minneapolis and at Grady Memorial Hospital. She also contributes to the training of medical students, ophthalmology residents, and non-ophthalmology trainees through lectures and direct clinical teaching at both the VA and Grady. .

She is the Director of the National Subspecialty Ophthalmology Network (NSON) in the Virtual Eye Care Services division of the Veterans' Integrated Service Network (VISN) 23, Midwest Network, which is a regional administrative entity that governs VA hospitals across the rural states of South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Iowa. NSON is a national tele-ophthalmology hub within VA that provides subspecialty ophthalmology services via telehealth to Veterans across the Midwest region and the whole country.

Dr. Maa is the founder of a novel tele-ophthalmology program for the VA called Technology-based Eye Care Services (TECS). This novel program, designed to help provide better access to care for rural Veterans, provides a comprehensive eye screening and eyeglasses for Veterans who live in medically underserved areas. The program is a novel method of eye care delivery and was conceptualized, designed, and implemented in 2015 and has since grown to more than 70+ sites of care across 16+ VA Medical Centers across the VA enterprise. Dr. Maa then subsequently began innovating on the TECS platform to incorporate ways to follow diseased patients through telehealth and providing Ophthalmology support to optometry-only clinics using a blend of telehealth and in-person care, the end result of which is NSON.

Dr. Maa is also very active in clinical research at Emory and the Atlanta VA. Since 2009 she has been an investigator with the Atlanta VAMC's Rehabilitation Research Division's Center of Excellence, the Center of Excellence for Visual and Neurocognitive Rehabilitation (CVNR). She has been the principal investigator on an industry-sponsored study involving diabetic retinopathy screening and is collaborating on other visual rehabilitation projects in the CVNR. Current research includes a clinical trial aimed at developing a tele-ophthalmology program for the emergency room, collaborations with Google, Tokueyes, and AI Optics to evaluate artificial intelligence and predictive analytics using machine deep learning. She also has an interest in medical ethics and medical education.

National Recognition

Dr. Maa works at the national level in VA Ophthalmology, serving as the VA Office of Connected Cares Tele-Eye Co-Lead, the VA Office of Rural Healths TECS and NSON Program Office Lead, is a member of VA Ophthalmology's Field Advisory Board, and is the Chair of the VA Ophthalmology Field Advisory Boards Telehealth Committee. She is also the current President of the Association of VA Ophthalmologists.

She is an innovator with the VA Center of Innovation and has received significant clinical grant support from various sources in the VA for her work in expanding eye care access. She has been recognized with multiple national awards including the 2017 VA Mark Wolcott Award for Excellence in Clinical Leadership and received the American Academy of Ophthalmology Secretariat Award for Federal Affairs and the Unsung Hero award for her work within the VA in 2022.

Dr. Maa has published papers in the field of tele-ophthalmology, diabetes/diabetic retinopathy, health care access/resources, artificial intelligence/machine learning, and medical education.

Dr. Maa is a proud member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Association of VA Ophthalmologists.

Areas of Clinical Interest
Comprehensive ophthalmology
Tele-ophthalmology
Diabetic retinopathy

Academic Appointment

• Professor, Ophthalmology, Emory University School of Medicine
• Adjunct Associate Professor of Research, Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan

Education

Research