Maya Bitar, M.D.

Dr. Maya Bitar is a board-certified, fellowship-trained ophthalmologist specializing in cornea, cataract, and refractive surgery.  Dr. Bitar had more than a decade of experience working in academic centers. Prior to joining Eye Doctors of Washington (EDOW), she was an associate professor at George Washington University in D.C., where she taught the next generation of ophthalmologists. The most complex cases from the DMV area were referred to her. In addition to her expert care, Dr Bitar is known as a caring and thorough doctor.  She believes in treating patients like family and offering personalized treatment.  

Dr Bitar has extensive experience in different kinds of cornea transplantation and corneal surgeries (PKP, lamellar keratoplasty, DSEK, DMEK, DWEK, etc). Her dedication to optimizing corneal transplantation outcomes is demonstrated by her active participation in the eye banking field, from her Fellowship Award by Miracles In Sight Eye Bank, her previous position on the Board of Directors of the Medical Eye Bank of West Virginia, to her election as a member of different medical committees and advisory boards of the Eye Bank Association of America. Dr Bitar’s interest in the corneal field goes back to her post-doctoral fellowship at Schepens Eye Institute- Harvard Medical School, where she conducted laboratory research that gave her a deep understanding of the corneal cells. Her work resulted in five peer-reviewed publications that were cited more than 600 times by other peer-reviewed articles. Her studies about the pathogenesis of Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy – the number one cause for corneal transplantation in the US – highly advanced the understanding of this disease and led the way to trialing less invasive treatments. She also published book chapters, presented at national and international meetings, and has been a reviewer for different ophthalmic journals.

Dr Bitar is also an expert in cataract surgery. She customizes the surgical plan to meet the patient’s needs and limitations, whether implanting the latest intraocular lens with extended depth of focus and multifocals, or combining cataract surgery with I-stent, a minimally invasive glaucoma surgery, using the latest technology.

Another passion of Dr Bitar is treating dry eye syndrome. She understands the complexity of this disease and the plights of patients suffering from it, having published different peer-reviewed articles about it, including one showing a relationship between dry eyes and depression/anxiety that got featured in the Cornea Journal. In addition to counselling and medical treatment, she will be performing different in-office procedures to benefit dry eye patients, including Tearcare.

Among other services, Dr Bitar will also be offering surgery for pterygiums and other ocular surface lesions, corneal cross-linking, as well as laser refractive surgery (LASIK and PRK). Similar to all her surgeries, her emphasis is on safety and optimization of outcomes based on the ocular surface health, which she has in-depth knowledge about.

Being multicultural, Dr Bitar is fluent in three languages: English, French, and Arabic, and she has basic knowledge of Spanish. She enjoys travelling with her husband, an army veteran, and her two children, as well as cooking and crafting.