Dr Palumaa leads a nationwide study investigating the prevalence and risk factors of myopia in Estonian school-aged children. As part of this initiative, she contributed to the launch of Estonia’s first Mobile Eye Clinic at the East Tallinn Central Hospital, which has enabled school-based screening, public awareness campaigns, and community outreach to promote children’s eye health. She also played a key role in introducing atropine treatment for myopia in Estonia and currently leads a longitudinal study assessing its effectiveness and tolerability.
Among her leadership roles, Dr Palumaa served as the Residents’ Representative on the Estonian Residency Commission, where she successfully advocated for a policy change enabling the combination of postdoctoral research training with residency. She is a member of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), the Estonian Ophthalmologists’ Association, and the European Society of Human Genetics. She has presented at leading international conferences, including ARVO, the International Myopia Conference, and the World Ophthalmology Congress. Her publication record spans topics ranging from retinal neurobiology and circadian biology to genome-wide association studies.