Biography
Dr Padmaja Kumari Rani is a vitreoretinal surgeon at the Smt Kanuri Santhamma Centre for Vitreoretinal Diseases at LVPEI and serves as the Head of Teleophthalmology across the network. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Rochester, New York.
She completed her basic medical degree from Rangaraya Medical College and her MS in Ophthalmology from Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad. She later pursued a post-doctoral fellowship in vitreoretinal diseases (Fellow of the National Board) at Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, followed by a fellowship with the International Council of Ophthalmology in Basic and Clinical Sciences Assessment. She completed her FRCS (Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Glasgow) in March 2016.
With sixteen years of professional experience, Dr Padmaja has emerged as an expert in the management of diabetic retinopathy. She was the key investigator of the Sankara Nethralaya Diabetic Retinopathy Epidemiology and Molecular Genetics Study (SNDREAMS) group. She managed a district-wide Rural Diabetic Retinopathy Project (nonmydriatic fundus camera-based DR screening model) at LVPEI from 2012 to 2015.
She is currently actively involved in capacity building of optometrists in a diabetic retinopathy project in collaboration with the Optometry Council of India and Carl Zeiss. She has trained over 1,000 optometrists and 100 physicians in the screening and referral guidelines of DR across the nation. She is currently in charge of translating research into clinical and community practice: a multi-centre statistical and economic modelling of risk-based stratified and personalised screening for complications of diabetes in India (SMART India) at LVPEI in collaboration with Professor Sobha Sivaprasad from Moorfields Eye Hospital, London.
She has 38 peer-reviewed publications with a strong community, epidemiological, and telemedicine research impact in the field of diabetic retinopathy. She has presented several papers, posters, and instructional courses related to public health, medical, and surgical aspects of DR in national and international conferences.
Dr Padmaja is passionate about building and mentoring screening programs for Retinopathy of Prematurity. She has been the key investigator of the Indian Twin Cities Retinopathy of Prematurity Program (ITCROPS) at LVPEI since January 2009. She is coordinating a neonatal intensive care unit-based rural screening program for ROP at Adilabad District. She has conducted several master classes and workshops across India and Bangladesh for ophthalmologists and pediatricians in the screening and management of ROP.
She has published several peer-reviewed publications and presented papers, posters, and instructional courses in various International and National conferences. The ‘Atlas of Vitreoretinal Diseases,’ a publication that she authored while working in Sankara Netralaya, Chennai, is one of the most sought-after reads in the field.