M. “Araba” Otoo, OD.
NEWARK, N.J.—Women In Optometry has announced that M. “Araba” Otoo, OD, Neda Gioia, OD, and Jennifer Maples, OD, will join the 2026 Women’s Leadership Conference on Sept. 29, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. to expand on this year’s theme, Focus. Amplify. Lead. According to the announcement, the doctors will share their connection experiences from personal, professional and community settings in a panel discussion titled Connections That Raise You and Others. Dr. Otoo, of Cherish Eyesight and Vision, will discuss how connections with clinicians and public health professionals help center eyecare as a fundamental aspect of healthcare.
Dr. Otoo is the current chair of the American Public Health Association Vision Care Section and an advocate for access to eyecare. In December 2020, she founded Cherish Eyesight and Vision to raise public awareness about the importance of vision and eye health.
Dr. Otoo said that public health is important for both eyecare professionals and the healthcare system as a whole because it shifts the focus from treating disease one patient at a time to improving health outcomes for entire populations.
“Public health helps us identify and address the root causes of vision problems such as diabetes, hypertension, poor access to care, health disparities and social determinants of health. It allows us to prevent vision loss through screening, education, early intervention and policy efforts rather than waiting until eye disease becomes advanced,” she said.
Many of the big healthcare challenges, such as chronic diseases, infectious diseases, environmental exposures and access-to-care issues, cannot be solved in the exam room alone. They require coordinated public health approaches, community partnerships, and evidence-based policies. Ultimately, public health helps healthcare move from a reactive model to a proactive one, ensuring that people not only live longer but also enjoy a better quality of life. In eyecare, that means preserving sight; in healthcare as a whole, it means creating healthier populations and more sustainable health systems.
Neda Gioia, OD.
Dr. Gioia, of Shrewsbury, N.J., has nearly 30 years of experience in the eyecare industry in more than 30 clinical settings across three states. As founder of Integrative Vision, she focuses on bridging the gap between traditional eyecare, nutrition, lifestyle medicine and preventive health while helping patients and providers understand the connection between vision and whole-body wellness. Through patient care, consulting, mentorship and speaking engagements, she continues to shape the evolving field of integrative optometry.
“The question is no longer whether nutrition matters to eye health,” said Dr. Gioia. “The question is, how do we effectively translate that science into our patient care?” She builds that into her patient conversation through what she calls a “paper-to-person” philosophy. “I help patients understand practical, achievable steps that support both their vision and overall health rather than simply discussing nutrients in isolation.”
Dr. Gioia has extended her work into women’s health more generally as “a natural extension of my work because hormonal changes influence far more than reproductive health, including the eyes and nutritional shifts. Many women spend years seeking answers while navigating multiple healthcare professionals. I see part of my role as helping patients identify patterns, ask better questions, and connect with the right professionals who can support a more comprehensive approach to their care.”
Jennifer Maples, OD.
Known online as The Mindful Optometrist, Dr. Maples is the founder of EyeTeach, LLC, where she helps women stop running on empty by teaching mindfulness and nervous system regulation that supports both who they are at work, and who they want to be when they get home. She also practices in a multispecialty ophthalmology setting. Dr. Maples has been a guest on Women In Optometry podcasts and featured in articles discussing mental health, goal setting and bringing mindfulness into patient conversations.
The first step in connecting with yourself through mindfulness is “just noticing. Most of us are moving so fast that we’re reacting to what happened three hours ago or worrying about what might happen tomorrow. Mindfulness starts with asking: what’s actually happening right now? That one pause creates a gap between stimulus and response, and that gap is where intentional decision-making lives,” she said.
“It’s not about adding another practice to an already full life. It’s about getting curious about your own patterns, asking yourself when you feel most scattered or most clear. That self-awareness becomes the foundation for everything else.
Dr. Maples said mindfulness can be brought into the patient conversation, too. “Start before you open the door. Physically pause at the threshold, take a breath, and arrive. Think about what elite athletes do before a high-stakes moment—a tennis player has a ritual before every serve. It’s not superstition, it’s a nervous system reset. Doctors can do the same thing: touch the door frame, say a quiet mantra to yourself, create a consistent transition cue that signals this moment matters.”