About Milica Margeta, MD, PhD
Dr. Milica Margeta is a member of the Mass. Eye and Ear Glaucoma Service, where she specializes in medical and surgical management of moderate and advanced glaucoma.
During her residency training at Duke, she received the prestigious Robert Machemer Resident Research Award for her project "CSF protein levels in children with idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH)," as well as the Duke Ocular Innovation Award for creating a novel approach for adjusting glaucoma drainage device surgery in children with glaucoma.
As a K12 Scholar in the Harvard Vision Clinical Scientist Development Program, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Eye Institute, Dr. Margeta is interested in developing novel neuroprotective strategies in glaucoma, a chronic degenerative disease that damages the eye's optic nerve and can lead to progressive loss of vision. In particular, she is studying the role of retinal neuroinflammation during glaucomatous optic nerve damage, with a special focus on microglia, the resident immune cells of the retina and the brain. Her research has shown that in mouse models of glaucoma, microglia take on a neurodegeneration-associated molecular phenotype, which can worsen glaucoma damage. By modulating microglial signaling in glaucoma, she hopes to ultimately develop novel neuroprotective treatments for this common blinding disease.
Clinical Interests:
- Glaucoma
Treats:
- Adult
Languages:
- Croatian
Locations
Mass Eye and Ear at Longwood
800 Huntington Ave.
Boston, MA 02115
Phone: 617-936-6156
Medical Education
- M.D.; Ph.D., Stanford University School of Medicine
- Residency, Duke University Medical Center
- Fellowship, Duke University Medical Center-GME
American Board Certifications
- Ophthalmology, American Board of Ophthalmology
Research
Dr. Margeta specializes in glaucoma, which is a chronic blinding disease characterized by gradual loss of retinal ganglion cells and cupping of the optic nerve. Elevated intraocular pressure remains the only modifiable risk factor for glaucoma; currently there no treatments conferring retinal ganglion cell neuroprotection or reversing existing visual field loss. As a Harvard-Vision Clinical Scientist Development Program (K12) scholar, Dr. Margeta is investigating the role of retinal neuroinflammation in the pathogenesis of glaucoma, with the goal of developing novel neuroprotective treatments for this progressive blinding disease.
Publications
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1. Pan BX, Margeta MA. Elevated Intraocular Pressure in a Young Man With a History of Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2019 03 01; 137(3):318-319.
2. Liu WW, Margeta MA. Imaging Retinal Ganglion Cell Death and Dysfunction in Glaucoma. Int Ophthalmol Clin. 2019; 59(4):41-54.
3. Margeta MA, Lad EM, Proia AD. CD163+ macrophages infiltrate axon bundles of postmortem optic nerves with glaucoma. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2018 Dec; 256(12):2449-2456.
4. Margeta MA, Kuo AN, Proia AD, Freedman SF. Staying away from the optic nerve: a formula for modifying glaucoma drainage device surgery in pediatric and other small eyes. J AAPOS. 2017 02; 21(1):39-43.e1.
5. Margeta MA, Buckley EG, El-Dairi MA. Low cerebrospinal fluid protein in prepubertal children with idiopathic intracranial hypertension. J AAPOS. 2015 Apr; 19(2):135-9.