Natalia was diagnosed with Dry Eye in October 2010. Her symptoms quickly became worse, and by August 2011 she was no longer able to keep her eyes opened because of extreme pain, despite seeing many specialists at some of the leading eye clinics in the United States.
Then, on what she refers to as “what would have been the last day of my life,” Natalia finally found a specialist, Dr. Steven L. Maskin, who would diagnose and treat meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), conjunctivochalasis, aqueous deficiency, demodicocis and more. On that day she finally began her journey to wellness. Along the way, she vowed that one day she would find a way to help others.
Natalia’s career spans a wide range of industries including construction, hospitality, technology, and health care. She was Vice President of Global Product management at a technology company based in Florida and served as President of a software company providing internal control solutions to Japanese public companies.
Natalia is Dr. Maskin’s co-author of the ground-breaking book on Dry Eye and Meibomian gland dysfunction, Your Dry Eye Mystery Solved: Reversing Meibomian Gland Dysfunction, Restoring Hope (Yale University Press, 2022; Tantor Media, 2023).
She was the Project Lead of two awards from PCORI, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, both aiming to increase patient involvement and engagement in Dry Eye research.
The first of these, Engaging Stakeholders to Develop a Roadmap for Dry Eye and MGD PCORI-Funded Research was published in the peer-reviewed journal Patient Related Outcome Measures in 2024. The second led to the establishment of the first Dry Eye patient advisory council.
Natalia holds a BA in English from SUNY Buffalo, an MBA from Rollins College, and a master’s in health administration from the University of Central Florida. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Central Florida. She resides in Orlando, FL with her husband.