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Key
People
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Dr Gullapalli N Rao,
Distinguished Chair of Eye Health
Chairman, Hyderabad Eye Institute
Founder, L V Prasad Eye Institute |
Gullapalli N Rao returned to India in 1986 to establish L V
Prasad Eye Institute, after a successful career in the
United States as an academic ophthalmologist. Dr Rao
received his basic medical education in Guntur, Andhra
Pradesh, and completed his postgraduate training in
ophthalmology at the All India Institute for Medical
Sciences, New Delhi. He went to the United States in 1974,
where he was trained first at Tufts University School of
Medicine in Boston, and later at the University of Rochester
School of Medicine, where he continued on the faculty until
his return to India in 1986. His areas of specialization
include diseases of the cornea, eye banking and corneal
transplantation, community eye health, eye care policy and
planning. He has published
over 250 papers in national and international journals, and
has contributed several book chapters. He is currently
President of the International Agency for the Prevention of
Blindness, in which role he leads VISION 2020: The Right to
Sight, the global initiative to eliminate avoidable
blindness by the year 2020. |
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Dr G Chandrasekhar
Director, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad
Head, VST Centre for Glaucoma |
After receiving his basic medical degree in Kurnool, Andhra
Pradesh, Dr G Chandra Sekhar completed his residency in
ophthalmology at the All India Institute for Medical
Sciences, New Delhi. He has delivered several named orations
including the prestigious Professor P Siva Reddy Gold Medal
Oration of the All India Ophthalmological
Society/Conference. He holds the position of Adjunct
Assistant Professor at the State University New York, School
of Optometry, and Clinical Professor at the University of
Rochester Medical School, Rochester, USA. He has been a
visiting Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison,
USA, and University of Southern California, San Diego, USA.
Dr Chandra Sekhar received the Junior Honors achievement
award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) in
November 2003. He has published 55
papers in peer-reviewed journals and contributed five book
chapters. His research interests include optic disc imaging
in glaucoma, psychophysical tests in glaucoma, plateau iris
syndrome and angle closure glaucoma. He was President of
Glaucoma Society of India, 2004 – 2006. He is currently a
member of the Glaucoma Research Society (ICO) and President,
AP State Ophthalmological Society for 2007 – 2008.
Dr G Chandrasekhar has been with LVPEI since its
establishment in 1987. He helped build up the glaucoma
service at the institute and was instrumental in setting up
and running the Education Centre, which provides training to
hundreds of medical and paramedical professionals each year
through short and long term programs. Having specialized in
orbital diseases, lid and adnexal diseases, glaucoma and
cataract, Dr GC handles a wide range of patients in the
clinics, bringing to his work a rare insight drawn from
years of experience. |
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Prof D Balasubramanian
Director of Research, L V Prasad Eye Institute
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Professor D Balasubramanian joined LVPEI’s Prof Brien Holden
Eye Research Centre after an illustrious scientific career,
which included positions such as Director, Centre for
Cellular and Molecular Biology, and Professor and Dean,
University of Hyderabad. He was honored by the Government of
India with the Padma Shri in 2002, and has received several
other awards from professional and institutional bodies.
Notable among them are the Kalinga Prize for the
popularization of science from UNESCO, the Third World
Academy of Sciences Award for Basic Medical Science, and the
Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Merite from the President
of France. Prof Balasubramanian’s research focuses on the
biology of eye diseases. He has over 160 publications in
national and international journals and has authored three
books. He is a member of several editorial boards and serves
on a range of national and international scientific
committees. Currently, he is President of the Indian Academy
of Sciences, and Secretary General of the Academy of
Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), Trieste, Italy. |
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Dr Taraprasad Das
Director,
L V Prasad Eye Institute, Bhubaneswar |
Taraprasad Das received his basic medical education in
Sambalpur University, Orissa, and completed his postgraduate
training in ophthalmology at the Jawaharlal Institute of
Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER),
Pondicherry, and at Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai. After
receiving his diploma in ophthalmic medicine and surgery
from Kanpur University, he went on to work as a retina
consultant with Aravind Eye Hospital. He also received
further subspecialty clinical training at University of
Illinois Medical School, Wills Eye Hospital, Jefferson
University, Philadelphia, and at the Massachusetts Eye and
Ear Infirmary, Harvard University. He joined LVPEI in 1991.
He has an international reputation as a retinal surgeon. He
has published more than 124 papers in international and
national journals, written 24 book chapters, and authored/
edited five books. He was editor of the Indian Journal of
Ophthalmology from 1999 to 2004. |
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Prof
Coen de Jong
Director, Kistmatpur Campus
Director, Education Development
Principal, Bausch & Lomb School of
Optometry
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After spending many years in The
Netherlands and in international bodies successfully
planningand implementing rehabilitation programs for those
with visual and other disabilities, in 2002 Prof Coen de
Jong accepted Dr Gullapalli N Rao’s invitation to use his
experience to contribute to the growth of LVPEI into new
areas of education and to strengthen existing programs. |
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Usha Gopinathan
Associate Executive Director, L V Prasad Eye Institute
Head, Jhaveri Microbiology Centre
Technical and Scientific Director, RIEB |
| Usha Gopinathan received her PhD in
medical microbiology from the University of New South
Wales, Sydney, Australia. Before joining LVPEI’s Prof
Brien Holden Eye Research Centre in 1992, she worked at
the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology in Bangalore
and at Christian Medical College, Vellore. Her current
areas of interest are ocular infections, eye banking,
hospital infection control and quality assurance. She
has spearheaded the training program in eye banking at
LVPEI in collaboration with ORBIS International. She has
published widely in national and international journals,
has served as principal investigator on a variety of
funded research projects, and continues to be a key
resource person for eye banking, nationally. |
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Virender Singh Sangwan
Associate Director, L V Prasad Eye Institute
Head, Cornea and Anterior Segment,
Ocular Immunology & Uveitis Services
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| Virender Singh Sangwan completed his
basic medical education from Maharshi Dayanand
University, Haryana, in 1986 and MS Ophthalmology in
1991. He did a fellowship in Cornea & Anterior Segment
at L V Prasad Eye Institute, and another in Immunology &
Uveitis Services at Harvard Medical School, USA, before
joining LVPEI. He has worked as Field Medical Director
at ORBIS International, Inc., New York, and chief
fellow, immunology & uveitis service of Harvard Medical
School, Boston. He is also Adjunct Associate Professor
of Ophthalmology, University of Rochester, New York,
USA. He has received several prestigious awards,
including the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award 2006 and
the Biotech Products and Process Development and
Commercialization Award 2007 from the Government of
India. He has published several papers in peer-reviewed
journals, presented widely and served as faculty for
workshops and instruction courses on uveitis, limbal
stem cell deficiency and limbal stem cell
transplantation, nationally and internationally. He is
reviewer for the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology,
Cornea, Comprehensive Ophthalmology Update and Clinical
& Experimental Ophthalmology. He is on the editorial
board of International Ophthalmology and section editor
of British Journal of Ophthalmology. He is an honorary
member of the North African Centre of Sight, National
Ophthalmic Society of El Salvador and National
Ophthalmic Society of Peru. He is secretary of the Asia
Cornea Society and Vice-President, Uveitis Society of
India. He is also founder secretary/treasurer of Uveitis
Society of India and the LVPEI Alumni Association. |
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Santosh G Honavar
Head, Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery, Orbit
and Ocular Oncology Services
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Santosh
Honavar completed his basic medical education at
Bangalore Medical College,
Bangalore, and his post-graduate training at the
All India Institute for Medical Sciences, New
Delhi. He completed a second fellowship, in
ocular oncology, at Wills Eye Hospital in
Philadelphia. His clinical interests include
ocular and adnexal tumours, ophthalmic plastic
surgery and orbital diseases, particularly in
pediatric patients. His research interests lie
in tumours of the ocular surface, eyelid and
orbit,retinoblastoma, ptosis and pediatric
lacrimal disorders. Santosh Honavar has been
recognised by the American Academy of
Ophthalmology, and by several other professional
organisations, for excellence in research and
clinical practice. He has published and
presented widely. |
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Savitri Sharma
Associate Director, L V Prasad Eye Institute
Network - Laboratory Services
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After completing her postgraduation in
medical microbiology at the Jawaharlal Institute of
Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER),
Pondicherry, Savitri Sharma
specialized in ocular microbiology at Aravind Eye
Hospital in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. She joined LVPEI in
1991. Her research interests are ocular infections and
inflammation with a special focus on fungal, bacterial,
protozoal and viral infections of the eye. She has
published 141 papers in national and international
journals and has won several competitive grants from
industrial and government bodies such as Bausch & Lomb,
British Contact Lens Association, Department of
Biotechnology and the Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research - both Government of India. She has
been editor-in-chief of the Indian Journal of Medical
Microbiology for the past six years and is on the review
board of several ophthalmology and microbiology
journals. She has received commendations from several
professional bodies including the Indian Association of
Medical Microbiologists, All India Ophthalmology Society
and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. She has
guided several PhD students under BITS, Pilani. |
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