Diplomate Spotlight, Dr. Deepa Chandrasekaran

May 5, 2022

Dr. Deepa Chandrasekaran began her optometry career in India, graduating from the Elite School of Optometry in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Now a resident of the greater Nashville, Tennessee area, Dr. Chandrasekaran went on to earn her MS in Vision Science from the University of Alabama, Birmingham, her OD degree from Pacific University College of Optometry and completed a residency in Cornea/Contact Lenses at the UAB School of Optometry.

Currently one of six optometrists in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the Vanderbilt Eye Institute, Dr. Chandrasekaran practices in the Adult Comprehensive/Contact Lenses Clinic performing regular eye exams on patients needing glasses and contact lenses and fitting soft/GP/hybrid/scleral lenses on both normal and diseased corneas. In prior years, she was in private practice in Montgomery, Alabama, and an adjunct faculty member at UAB.

Earning her initial board certification in 2013, Dr. Chandrasekaran aspired to be a doctor practicing on par with other board-certified health care professionals and wanted a path for staying abreast of advancements in diagnosis and treatment in eye care to better care for her patients. “Board certification has only had a positive impact on myself and our optometric profession,” said Dr. Chandrasekaran. “We, like our Ophthalmology colleagues, are working toward advancing in our profession every day by improving our examination skills, learning new methods, and offering the best treatments for our patients. Board certification has paved the way for me to do that. As a board-certified optometrist in the Department of Ophthalmology, I am valued by my ophthalmology colleagues as I have a more in-depth knowledge of the eye conditions that I see in our patient population, and we work amicably in prioritizing patients’ needs.”

A fellow in the American Academy of Optometry (AAO), the International Association of Contact Lens Educators (IACLE), the Scleral Lens Education Society (SLS) and the British Contact Lens Association (BCLA), Dr. Chandrasekaran has also served as the ABO’s State Ambassador for Tennessee since 2017. She has been a recipient of the Dr. Sheldon Wechsler Contact Lens Residency Award, sponsored by the American Optometric Foundation, and gives back to the profession and greater community through work with the Volunteer Optometric Services for Humanity (VOSH) and as Program Director for the Contact Lens project in Ghana, Africa.

A mother of two beautiful children, Aadhi, 13 and Ataana, 10, Dr. Chandrasekaran enjoys traveling and exploring new countries and cuisine with her husband, Dr. Kalai Mugilan, a college professor who teaches sociology, health education and public health. She also enjoys interior design, arts and crafts and is a trained Indian classical singer. “Even now,” says Dr. Chandrasekaran, “I can still put my children to sleep by singing to them!”

We thank Dr. Chandrasekaran for her service to the profession, her important volunteer work and for being a strong advocate for ABO and board certification.

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