1

Arunachalam Perumal
Aug 7, 1915- July 20, 2004
Hailing from Ammapatti, a small village near Uthamapalayam in Tamil Nadu,
Perumal joined Shanthiniketan when he was just eighteen years old. He lived and
worked with great artists like Silpacharya Nandalal Bose for over four decades in
Kalabhavan of Shanthiniketan. Fondly called as Perumalda by his students
(da means elder brother in Bengali), he was an avid bird-watcher and his love for
nature stands out in his paintings, sculptures and murals. He became well known as
the artist who took art to the people. He went to the villages around Shanthiniketan
and decorated the walls of the humble Santhal homes with nature themes such as
birds and animals as in the background of this page.
After Kalabhavan, he moved to Madurai and spent the last three decades of his
life here. An ardent admirer of Aravind Eye Hospital and a longtime patient of
Dr.G.Natchiar, he had donated all his sketches and paintings to Aravind.
This being the birth centenary year of Perumalda, an exhibition was conducted
in November to share this rare treasure of art with the public, which was a great
success.
Several of his unique art work are used in the cover and throughout this report.

A builder of the Immortals secret house

An aspirant to supernal Timelessness
Above minds twilight and lifes starlit night
There gleamed the dawn of a spiritual day
- from Sri Aurobindos Savitri

Contents
Highlights

14

Patient Care

18

Community Outreach

30

Education and Training

38

Consultancy and Capacity Building

58

Research

70

Manufacturing Ophthalmic Supplies

80

Central Functions

85

Recognitions and Achievements

95

Partners in Service

101

Trustees and Staff

105

PHOTO CREDITS
Iruthayaraj P, Aravind-Pondicherry
Mohan, Aravind-Tirunelveli
Ramesh V, Aravind-Madurai
Rajkumar M, Aravind-Madurai
Saravanan S, Aravind-Pondicherry
Senthil Kumar P, Aravind-Coimbatore
Seran I, Aravind-Salem
Vivekanandan Dr., Aravind-Madurai


     
the action of life inside.
- Dr. Vs journal entry April 10th, 1988

Dr. G. Venkataswamy fondly referred as Dr. V

Founder Chairman of Aravind Eye Care System
October 1, 1918 - July 7, 2006
5

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam

15 Oct, 1931 - 27 July, 2015
In July of 2015, Aravind Eye Care System mourned the passing of
former President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
Dr. Kalams association with Aravind spanned a quarter of a century, and began when he
   

       
  
service that he encountered, and it sowed the seeds of a lifelong friendship.
Over the years, he was exceedingly generous with his time and support. Dr.Kalam was the
chief guest at Aravinds 25th anniversary celebrations in 2001, and as the President of
India, he graced the inauguration of Aravind Pondicherry in 2003. Subsequently he laid the
foundation stone for Aravind Medical Research Foundation and came back to inaugurate
it when the building was completed in 2008. In the same year he also inaugurated the
Aravind Virtual Academy. In 2011, he was the chief guest at the Tamil Nadu Ophthalmic
Conference organised by Aravind at Tirunelveli.

  
  !  "#   $ !    

when his schedule permitted. He was a mentor and friend to the leadership, and keenly
interested in the organisations latest research developments and its use of satellite
technology. He had a special gift for interacting with young staff members, and prompting
them with his trademark question, What is your dream?
His inspired example and steadfast good-will have touched Aravinds journey in ways that it
will always remain profoundly grateful for.

ARAVIND EYE CARE SYSTEM

Vision: Eliminate Needless Blindness

EYE CARE SERVICES

Mission: Provide compassionate and quality eye care affordable to all

ARAVIND EYE HOSPITALS

Tertiary Eye Care Centres (Speciality Care, Research & Training)

Secondary Eye Care Centres (Cataract Services, Speciality Diagnosis)

Madurai 1976, Tirunelveli 1988, Coimbatore 1997

Pondicherry 2003, Salem 2011

Theni 1985, Tirupur 2010, Dindigul 2010, Tuticorin 2012

Udumalpet 2012, Coimbatore City Centre 2014

ARAVIND COMMUNITY EYE CLINICS

Out-Patient Eye Care Centres

(Comprehensive Eye Examination, Treatment of minor ailments)

Melur 2004, Tirumangalam 2005, Cumbum 2008
Madurai City Centre 2009, Sankarankovil 2010, Pondicherry City Centre 2011

ARAVIND VISION (PRIMARY EYE CARE) CENTRES

57

Primary Eye Care Centres (Comprehensive Eye Examination)

FREE EYE SCREENING CAMPS

(Community Outreach Programmes)
2,590 camps were conducted through which 570,761 patients were screened and 86,325
surgeries performed in the year ending March 2016.

1976-2016

40 years

a journey dedicated to compassionate

service for sight

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Mission: Develop ophthalmic human resources through teaching and training
Around 8,300 candidates trained from 100 countries
1,313 papers published

RESEARCH
Mission: Provide evidence through research and evolve methods to translate existing
evidence and knowledge into effective action
- Basic and translational research - Clinical research - Operations research
- Product development in eye care
119 research papers published; 17 scholars received Ph.D

CONSULTANCY AND CAPACITY BUILDING

Mission: Enhance eye care through capacity building, advocacy, research and publications
- Sharing best practices at Aravind - Advocacy in eye care - Publications
320 hospitals from 27 countries received consultancy services in eye care management

OPHTHALMIC SUPPLIES
Mission: Make quality ophthalmic products affordable and accessible to the vision
impaired worldwide
- Intraocular lens - Pharmaceuticals - Suture needles
- Equipment - Surgical blades - Special products
Products exported to more than 146 countries worldwide

1976 - 2016:
the journey thus far

2016 marks the fortieth year of Aravinds journey, from a

humble beginning to one of the largest providers of eye care in
the world.
%
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 '
!  
multitude of challenges
- providing eye care services that are affordable and accessible to all
- creating a human resource pipeline to serve the needs of Aravind and the
rest of the world;
- continually adding to the body of knowledge on the nuances of causes of eye
diseases and on effective ways of delivering care;
- addressing the supply chain issues by making world-class eye care supplies
and equipment readily available at affordable prices;
- proactively sharing best practices with eye care providers to enhance the
performance of the entire eye care sector.
  

" "

 '
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#
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framework.

10

Due to the resource scarce circumstances of the early years, which in hindsight
can be said to be fortunate, Aravind as an organisation learnt to live within its
means and frugality got etched into the DNA of the organisation. These have
helped Aravind serve a large number of patients, continually improve the quality
towards becoming the benchmark for world standards and become highly


 "
    
'    

strengthened.
When people constantly question as to why isnt Aravind scaling rapidly
expanding to other areas, like some of the other eye care providers, the
question that crosses everyones mind at Aravind is,

How does one scale compassion or the quest for perfection?

While the capacity to build people with the right perspective continues to be
the limiting factor, Aravind is also increasingly facing challenges from more
practical necessities like procuring land, getting approvals and the like.
Challenges that are forcing it to choose between serving the humanity and
following the organisations values and beliefs.

11

This is also a moment for Aravind to look back to distil the

factors that have made all this possible. And to determine what
amongst these needs to remain and be strengthened, as well as
what needs to change and morph to stay relevant in the everchanging external eco-system.

Given the enormity of the

problem of needless blindness,
Dr. V coached the team to
think big and globally, beyond
 



 
remain deeply grounded in doing
what needs to be done locally.
Not just the patient, but anyone

'
!
  
care service became the driver
of the service design resulting in
a community centric service
delivery system. Dr. Vs quest to
become the perfect vehicle to
channel the divine forces pushed
the organisation in its daily work
towards perfection, making
Aravind an eternally learning
organisation with a strong ethical
fabric.

12

Vision Centres and Scaling

Suddenly the goal

of reaching out to
one billion does
not seem so
audacious.

*
  
+  
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  '  
in 2004, the power of these simple units in effectively
 
"
   
<  ! 
Aravind realised that it has found a scalable way to provide
eye care to everyone and thus move towards its goal of
eliminating needless blindness. Apart from expanding its
own network of Vision Centres, Aravind is currently working
with Governments and other eye care providers in India and
around the developing world to create easy access to good
eye care for several million people. They are all in different
stages of establishing several Vision Centres as a pilot. Now
Aravind has to work towards being adequately prepared to
support these initiatives. Suddenly the goal of reaching out
to one billion does not seem so audacious.

13

Highlights 2015-16
When you want something,
all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it
- Paul Coelho

$ '



  ! 



  "


importance happened in the last year.
Over the years, quite organically, Aravind has built good will and trust amongst patients
coming from bordering districts of the neighbouring state, Andhra Pradesh. Though these
districts border Tamil Nadu, the patients still have to travel about 600 kms to reach
Madurai. Several years ago, what used to be a small number of patients, has now steadily
increased to over a 150 patients every day with about 50 of them getting operated.
Recognising the hardships these elderly patients must be facing in navigating the great
distances, Aravind was very keen to establish a hospital closer to their homes, in one of the
bordering districts of Andhra Pradesh. The search started several years ago, but there were
     


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!  

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and put in concerted efforts. This resulted in the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam allocating
seven acres of land at a nominal lease. The allocation had to be approved by the
Government and the process which normally takes three to six months, in this instance
happened within a weeks time. At Aravind, this again is a demonstration of divine force at
play towards its aspiration to serve the humanity.

14

OCTOBER SUMMIT

Prof. Allen Foster receives Dr. G. V Endowment Award 2015 - with him are Dr. R.D. Ravindran, Mr. G.Srinivasan,
Dr.P.Namperumalsamy, Mrs. Penny Foster and Mr. R.D.Thulasiraj

Dr. G.Venkataswamy Endowment Award

Roots 2015

Aravind Eye Care System honoured Prof. Allen Foster

with this years Dr. G.V Endowment Award at a
spectacular ceremony held at Dr. G. Venkataswamy
Eye Research Institute on 1st of October. Co-Director
of the International Centre for Eye Health as well as the
International Centre for Evidence in Disability, London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Dr. Foster in
his oration titled Leadership: Relevance to Eye Health,
beautifully took the audience through the life of Dr. V
as he explained the essentials of leadership.

 
 
 
together was organised for the alumni of Aravind as
part of the October Summit. Called Roots 2015, it
brought together over a hundred ophthalmologists who
had been part of Aravind since inception as students,
 


get-together with camaraderie and shared nostalgic
memories. The alumni have put in a request to the
management to organise such meets regularly in the
future.

Roots 2015 - Aravind alumni with Dr. R. Ramakrishnan, Dr. Thiruvengada krishnan and Dr. S. Aravind

15

COMMUNITY ORIENTED ACTIVITIES

Aravind as a community service organisation has been
integrating itself into several aspects of the community.
Inspite of the ever increasing volume of work, Aravind
does not deter from community oriented activities. Be
it recognising an unsung hero, singing the praise of the
land, or lending a hand in the hour of need, Aravind
indulges willingly.

Responding to adversity
The end of monsoon season last year saw unprecedented
rains in Chennai and districts around it. Countless
people lost everything. This calamity instantly mobilised
the entire team across Aravind to respond, true to its
spirit of compassion. At Madurai, Aravind teamed
with Green Walk, another humanitarian organisation



at Madurai became the disaster relief centre. Once the
word got out, relief material by way of household items,
clothes and groceries started pouring in. These were

professionally repacked into various relief kits - sleeping

kit, grocery kit, sanitary kit, childrens kit, etc. Members
of Green Walk and staff of Aravind got deeply involved
into this work as volunteers, often working late into the
night. Several truckloads of relief material went out to




effective distribution. A team from Aravind-Pondicherry
collected relief materials and took them to people
stranded in waterlogged areas around Cuddalore.
Aravind-Salem and Aravind-Udumalpet collected and
sent relief materials through NGOs working in the
affected areas. This happened to coincide with what is
now becoming an annual event - Angaadi, where giving
happens through recycling. Employees donate items
from home that they no longer use or need to Angaadi
and purchase what they need from what others bring in.
The entire sales proceeds are donated to a humanitarian
cost and this time over 2 lakh rupees was sent towards


Members of Green Walk and staff of Aravind sorting and packing the relief materials at Aravind-Madurai
Aravind-Pondicherry team distributing relief materials

16

Aravind-Salem team with materials they collected for relief work

Homage to Perumalda
Perumalda was born in 1915 in Ammapatti village
near Uthamapalayam in the then undivided Madurai
district. Destiny took him to Shanthi Niketan to learn
and work under great people like Rabindranath Tagore
and Nandalal Bose. On retiring from Shanthi Niketan
University, he came back and settled down in Madurai
over 3 decades ago. Aravind, as a situation and he as
an individual were mutually drawn to each other and
developed a strong bondage. When he passed away in
2004, unknown to Aravind, he bequeathed his entire
art collection to Aravind Eye Hospital. Aravind took

Art demonstration by Artist Trotsky

Maruthu

over this treasure, restored and widely displayed his

art across Aravind facilities. 2015 turned out to be his
centenary year and Aravind used the occasion to not
only honour him, but also showcase his brilliance as
an artist to the people of Madurai through a three-day
exhibition of his art. Perumaldas greatness was such
that when the word of the celebration plans got around,
well-known artists of Tamil Nadu were eager to be a
part of it. Soon the centenary celebrations turned out to
be an art extravaganza of lectures, practical workshops
and display.

Art critic Mr. Indran explaining the unique aspects of Perumaldas style


          


 

17

Patient Care

Aravind is stepping into its 40th year of serving the community offering quality
and affordable eye care. With an aspiration of attaining perfection in delivering
eye care service to all, Aravind is keen on providing the highest level of care at
every stage of the treatment cycle.
There is a constant vigil and retrospection on the quality aspects in eye
care delivery - with constant innovations in every sphere - from something as
!  "  ! 
" !  



Vision for All

Aravind Eye Hospital, Chennai

Vision for All project was initiated by Aravind-Theni

on July 10. Supported by Topcon and Mehra Eye
Tech, the project aims to provide comprehensive eye
care services to eliminate needless blindness in Theni
District and develop it as the best eye care zone in the
state of Tamil Nadu.
Objectives include reduction of prevalence of
avoidable vision impairment, major causes being
diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and uncorrected
refractive errors. It also aims to work with Government
health facilities through a mode of public-private
partnership for providing eye care services.
The project activities are being carried out in the
service areas of Aravinds primary eye care centres and
community eye clinic, diabetes centres, government
primary health centres as well as in private schools in
Theni District.
Following the inauguration, a special CME was
arranged on common eye diseases, which was attended
by about 40 physicians and diabetologists in and around
Theni.

The construction of the biggest Aravind facility is

progressing as per schedule in Chennai and is expected
to open in February 2017. Manpower planning has been
done to staff this large facility.

Infrastructure Development
Across all Aravind Eye Hospitals, various speciality



 

the existing centres are being expanded to provide
maximum comfort to patients. Conscious efforts are
taken by various clinical departments to reduce patient
waiting time, which is well-received. Newer treatment
modalities promising better clinical outcome are
constantly being tried out.

19

Performance : April 2015 - March 2016

Total

Madurai

2,024,364

617,224

517,945

171,343

334,465

94,515

Diabetic Retinopathy screening camps

42,280

14,576

Refraction camps

51,687

13,576

School children examined by Aravind staff**

64,093

7,408

Paediatric eye screening

42,336

Mobile van refraction camps

35,900

570,761

130,075

Vision Centres

440,625

181,352

Community Eye Clinics (City Centre)

173,532

100,612

OUT-PATIENTS
HOSPITALS
Paying (New+Review)
Free (New+Review)
OUTREACH
At Free Eye camps
Comprehensive camps

Total Out-patients examined in outreach**

TOTAL OUT-PATIENT VISITS

SURGERIES
Paying
Subsidised (walk-ins to free hospital)
Free (through screening camps)

TOTAL SURGERIES

3,727,227 1,200,606

206,130

73,387

115,765

43,380

86,325

28,636

408,220

145,403

**Note: Excludes 269,043 children screened by teachers and found to be

20

Theni Tirunelveli Coimbatore Pondicherry Tirupur

Dindigul

Salem

Tuticorin Udumalpet CBE CC*

86,396 301,085

385,870

21,217

77,913

120,478

93,014

7,435

- 6,778

8,485

11,282

17,437

44,903

86,466

75,155

282

- 11,235

4,344

128

3,525

3,213

12,394

7,685

134

3,777

11,844

11,890

5,778

1,097

1,683

6,799

36,179

8,800

354

835

1,455

2,306

37,740

29,172

27,257

68,214

178,407

58,104

95,110

35,507

20,301

29,481

213,275 571,803

-
720,262

285,639 45,669 67,882 120,701

-
135,158

56,125

685

68

3,725

- 2,425

445

- 6,728

1,867

29,918 27,855

- 21,073

4,344

48,490 10,105

23,138

585,439 65,076 67,882 148,552

68,954

4,298

68

11,957

57,455 27,923

6,418

30,302

44,647

28,970

2,376

4,169 10,755

2,576

1,548

982

3,178

15,254

28,976

18,488

1,554

- 1,585

1,268

2,082

2,504

9,160

22,442

19,147

415

- 3,098

632

291

12,100

54,716

96,065

66,605

4,345

4,169 15,438

4,476

3,921

982

normal, taking the total outreach screening to 839,804

*CBE CC- Coimbatore City Centre

21

Surgery Details April 2015 - March 2016

Total

Madurai

262,752

96,185

5,913

2,031

12,689

4,907

Squint correction

2,453

1,181

Keratoplasty

2,893

882

Pterygium

5,319

2,094

Ocular injuries

1,656

524

Lacrimal surgeries

5,394

2,387

Laser procedures

85,536

27,072

7,522

2,856

10,657

2,750

5,436

2,534

408,220

145,403

Cataract surgeries
Trab and combined procedures
Retina and vitreous surgery

Orbit and oculoplasty surgeries

Others
Refractive surgery

Total Surgeries

Cataract Services
Endophthalmitis is one of the most feared complications
after cataract surgery. A study was undertaken at
!  " 
Intra Cameral (IC) injection produced by Aurolab in
reducing the risk of endophthalmitis. The drug was
administered to all charity patients at the conclusion
of cataract surgery from August 2014. The electronic
health record data of 116, 714 patients who underwent
cataract surgery in the following 14-month period
was reviewed. The endophthalmitis rate which was
##$%&"'
 
reduced to 0.02% after starting the drug. The results
Wetlab practice sessions

were published in Ophthalmology journal in the

February 2016 issue. Endophthalimitis rate before and
&""''"



10 surgical centres of AECS was also analysed. Results
showed an overall 3 fold reduction in endophthalmitis
&""
Managing complications and complicated cataract
cases is a challenge, even for experienced surgeons. In
order to better equip young surgeons to manage these
complex situations, hands on wetlab practice sessions
coupled with lectures were conducted on May 23
and March 26-27 at Aravind - Madurai with support
from Alcon. A month-long similar training was held at
Aravind - Pondicherry in July and December. Wetlab
training included management of posterior capsule tear,
anterior vitrectomy basics, lens management and IOL
implantation techniques.

Uvea Services
As the clinics at Aravind - Pondicherry, Salem and
Coimbatore encounter lots of presumed viral posterior





 
cause of the disease. As part of the study, serum is being
collected and stored at minus 70 degrees for presumed
viral posterior uveitis for future analysis.
Another multi-centric study titled FAST- First line
Anti metabolites as Steroid sparing Treatment analyses

22

Theni

Tirunelveli Coimbatore

Pondicherry Tirupur

Dindigul

Salem

Tuticorin

Udumalpet CBE CC

9,366

31,953

58,168

43,069

3,250

3,008

10,231

3,356

3,490

676

118

1,152

1316

1,025

51

55

112

43

10

1,359

4,064

1,986

363

302

719

251

759

884

327

35

224

170

1,485

813

64

81

296

43

15

34

176

457

402

15

75

45

695

1,014

1,181

66

2,077

14,870

21,953

12,623

895

875

3,736

825

367

243

222

1,183

1,910

935

58

112

137

75

27

39

1,396

3,127

2,950

34

197

128

22

701

968

1,043

190

12,100

54,716

96,065

66,605

4,345

4,169

15,438

4,476

3,921

982

two immunosuppressives namely methotrexate versus

' 

non-infectious uveitis cases. The study gains importance
in the context that so far no comparative study has been
done on immunosuppressives and they are prescribed
based on patients and doctors preference.
Other international drug trials like Sakura and
Spring study too have brought in new understanding
on immunosuppressive treatment modalities. Recent
European Medicines Agency (EMA) team that came
to inspect for Sakura study at the clinic in Madurai
delivered an encouraging note that the safety and wellbeing of subjects were taken care in a proper manner.

The Uvea Services at Aravind - Madurai was renovated

with latest infrastructure and was inaugurated on 1st
of October. The new clinic is more spacious and helps
'
department. The isolated counselling chamber ensures
privacy for patients. The Uvea Services at Tirunelveli
too underwent remodelling and the new premises
became functional from January 1.

Staff and doctors of the Uvea Services at Madurai with

Dr.S.R. Rathinam at the inauguration of the renovated clinic

At the inauguration of the renovated Uvea Services at

Aravind-Tirunelveli

Retina Services
With the number of diabetic population growing
rapidly, the number of people losing vision due to
diabetic retinopathy is ever increasing. Sensitising the

23

public about the consequences of the disease is one

of the top priorities of the Retina Services across all
Aravind Eye Hospitals. Towards this, various awareness
creation activities including screening camps, seminars
and exhibitions were organised in educational




 
+/


collaborate with diabetes hospitals to screen patients
for diabetic retinopathy.
Under the Retinopathy of Prematurity Eradication
- Save Our Sight (ROPE-SOS) project, screening of
babies in rural areas via telemedicine was initiated in
August 2015 at Aravind - Coimbatore. 1666 babies were
screened and 243 babies were diagnosed to have ROP,
8$
 
ROP and treated. Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCT-A) was introduced for evaluation of
macular diseases at Aravind - Coimbatore and Madurai.
It is a non-invasive, patient friendly way to further
evaluate common macular diseases like diabetic macular
edema (Ischemic), Choroidal Neo Vascular Membranes
(CNVM) and other conditions. The clinic introduced
scleral autograft to close optic disc pit maculopathy
associated with macular detachment. This new
initiative showed promising results for otherwise poor
prognosis/results seen. Lens capsule autograft for failed
macular hole surgery cases was started which showed


 


' <=>?

introduced for the treatment of choroidal neovasculr
membrane occurring in many conditions like Idiopathic
Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy (IPCV) and Age
related Macular Degeneration (AMD). On the occasion
of World Diabetes Day, clinics across the Aravind
centres were involved in various activities to create
awareness on diabetic retinopathy amongst the public.

At Aravind - Pondicherry, photodynamic laser

treatment was introduced for Polypoidal Choroidal
Vasculopathy (PCV) patients who were earlier referred
to other Aravind centres. Similarly, the department also
started doing ROP surgeries. The clinic was expanded
to accommodate more patients in a comfortable manner.
It also acquired ERG machine and is waiting for
installation.

OCT - A for evaluation of macular diseases

Binocular vision assessment

24

Paediatric Ophthalmology Services

The department at Madurai has expanded their
orthoptic division with a separate wing for binocular
vision assessment and vision therapy. This service
'



' '



 
 


@ 

children and young adults and those with small angles
of deviation. To treat these patients, the department

 

"


computer-based exercices.
To improve the follow up rate of patients with
amblyopia, Paediatric ophthalmology services at
Aravind - Coimbatore introduced reminder calls
to patients and appointment system. Appointment
patients will get preference from entry to exit. Similar
system was introduced for patients coming for review
after squint or cataract surgery. Necessary steps were
taken to ensure that patient waiting time is reduced.
Lateral rectus palsy, if left untreated can result in
prolonged recovery period and troubling double vision.
To treat this condition, the clinic started administering
Injection Botulinum toxin into the medial rectus muscle
of the eye. This will temporarily relieve the patients of
double vision and avoid muscle contractures. In some

cases, this procedure can also lead to full recovery and

avoid surgery.
Through different projects, the paediatric
ophthalmology services across the centres took
measures to effectively address the problem of visual
impairment in children of various age groups.

Cornea Services
At Aravind - Coimbatore, Gebaeur Microkeratome
was introduced to perform automated endothelial
keratoplasty which reduces surgery time as well as
improves quality. Botulinum toxin injections were
started instead of temporary tarsorrhaphy, a procedure
where lids are sutured together to keep them closed
to aid in corneal healing. Suturing is a painful and
cosmetically compromising procedure. Injecting
Botulinum toxin will cause lid muscle weakness, and
closure of lids for few weeks to months. This procedure
is painless and will not cause scarring.
Cornea Services at Madurai is on an ongoing mission
to provide evidence based medical care to all sections of
the society. It was a productive year, in that the largest
number of keratoplasties were performed. Additionally,
the department presented 70 papers in national and
international conferences. The department also
published 15 articles in top class international journals
with high impact factor. Seven national and regional
awards were bagged by the team which is a testimony
to the departments quest for ongoing excellence.
Penetrating Keratoplasty (PKP) skills transfer course
was organised at Aravind - Madurai from 8th to 11th
March, by department of Cornea in association with
SightLife. Six participants from various parts of India
and Bangladesh, associated with Government hospitals
X>Y
'' Z[Z


under the guidance of Dr. Anthony Aldave, Dr.James
Lehmann and Dr. Manoranjan Das. All the fellows and
consultants of cornea clinic had the chance to discuss

 
"'
Z[Z'


 
the course.
Landmark studies like MUTT 1 and SCUT studies on
infectious keratitis has captured global attention and
has become the topic of discussion in many national
and international forums. These studies paved the way
for newer international collaborations. The department

 
!\@@] 
'

has embarked on a new project involving collagen
cross linking in collaboration with University of
California, San Francisco. Many new research projects

in collaboration with different universities across the

world like University of Texas, Liverpool, Illinois, Los
Angeles, London school of Hygiene, Singapore National
Eye centre are underway.
With support from Francis I. Proctor Foundation for
Research in Ophthalmology, University of California,
San Francisco, Cornea Services at Aravind - Madurai
has undertaken a study to determine whether diagnosis
and prophylaxis of corneal abrasions by trained
village health workers will reduce the incidence of
corneal ulceration in rural south India. It is a cluster


 
active intervention with topical chloramphenicol and
topical Itraconazole ointment after corneal abrasion
as a preventive measure against development of an
infectious corneal ulcer. As part of the study, the villages
were randomised into two groups (intervention and
control arm). Persons in the intervention arm receive
treatment for corneal abrasions and a communitywide promotional campaign is undertaken by the
eye health workers to promote treatment of corneal
abrasions within 24 hours of them occurring. Patients
who present to the eye health worker with corneal
abrasion/eye injuries are taken to the nearest Aravind
vision centre where trained ophthalmic personnel under

'
^ '

Madurai is treated with the above indicated medicines.
Patients with corneal abrasions who present to eye care
centres in control villages are treated as per the standard
treatment protocol, but a promotional campaign is not
been undertaken.

'
'  




being carried out in the study population to update the
birth/death/migration details as well as to know the
incidence of corneal ulceration.
PKP skills transfer course

25

The fellowship programme has also been raised to an

international level where the fellow is now offered to
perform complex corneal surgeries like keratoprosthesis
and lamellar surgeries apart from routine cornea
surgeries. Each fellow is involved in at least one clinical
and basic science research project.
The clinic is setting the benchmark in quality of
care through new initiatives that raise the standard of
patient care and safety.
An innovative and different technique of doing
keratoprosthesis where sclera was used as a carrier for
[Z+Y  


surgery was performed successfully. The department
does internal medical auditing of the outpatients
clinical and in-patients surgical procedures every
week. An initiative has been taken to reduce the bed
occupancy rate for post-operative patients thereby
promoting day-care surgical procedures.
The cornea module for the electronic medical records
has been developed. Although it was a challenge to
design the cornea drawing module since it was the


 
the IT team the cornea department is ready to explore
the world of paperless records. In collaboration with
Aurolab, a new device CORNIVIEW was designed
to grade the donor corneas and it was successfully
launched at the Annual Conference of Cornea Society
of India. The department has now its own Descemets
Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty
(DSAEK) glide, developed with the help of Aurolab.
Cornea Services at Aravind - Pondicherry started
harvesting amniotic membranes in collaboration
with AG Padmavathy Hospital. It is then processed
at Aravind and used for ocular surface reconstruction
procedures at eye bank.
Mr. G. Srinivasan inaugurating the renovated NeuroOphthalmology Services at Madurai

26

Neuro-Ophthalmology Services
Neuro Services at Aravind - Madurai moved to spacious
premises on April 15, providing better amenities and
comfort to patients.

Low Vision Services and Vision Rehabilitation

Centre
At Madurai, paediatric vision assessment was
strengthened with the guidance of Dr. Linda Lawrence,
Ophthalmologist, Kansas. She examined 39 children
with visual impairment and guided the parents as to
how to deal with them. From January 2016, onwards
Vision Rehabilitation Centre started following a
standardised method to assess vision of children aged
0 - 3 years and those who are with multiple disabilities.
140 children were thus assessed and provided
intervention. A separate proforma was developed and
used to document the details of children aged 0 - 5
years. This has helped the ophthalmologist and other
eye care professionals understand the childs vision
status and progression during each visit.
As part of USAID project, Dr. Nagamani Beligere,
Developmental Paediatrician from University of Illinois
visited vision rehabilitation centre and performed
developmental assessment for 123 children with
Retinopathy of Prematurity. This assessment helped the
parents get a better understanding about their childs
present level of functioning and activities. Dr. Nagamani
also suggested ways to improve childs performance.
The centre also introduced bioptic telescope
for patients to improve their distance vision. The
^'

' 
and is easy to use.
Dr. Linda Lawrence examining a patient with Low Vision

Glaucoma Services
Under the guidance of Professor Kamalini Ramdas
from London Business School, the Glaucoma Services
at Aravind - Pondicherry introduced the concept of
Shared Medical Appointments (SMA). Here the doctor

''

' 
examination stage. Each patient will be examined
and prescribed in the classic one on one fashion while
others listen to them. This initiative helps patients to
understand glaucoma in a better way thereby improving
their compliance to treatment and follow up. The clinic
moved to renovated and spacious premises on July 10.
Upon request, Glaucoma Clinic, Madurai organised
a family screening camp on July 12 at Devakottai
during a family celebration of one of its glaucoma
patients. A group of doctors and staff did screening
of 53 blood relatives. Blood samples were collected to
study the genetic basis. Seven relatives were diagnosed
with Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG), 5 were
glaucoma suspects and 4 were diagnosed with angle
closure disease. A detailed pedigree was created to
identify the complexity and genetic basis of POAG in
the family.
The research project, identifying the barriers to
diagnosis and treatment of congenital glaucoma in
Southern India is underway at Aravind - Madurai.
The projects subject matter is one that the World
>


 
'

]#8_&


/ 
best standards of care for rare diseases is especially
' '

planning. Hospital and home based questionnaire
survey is being done on identifying the challenges that

Patients under the Shared Medical Appointment (SMA) scheme

with Dr.Kavitha

the childhood glaucoma patients and their caregivers

face.
For better patient comfort at Aravind-Madurai,
direct registration exclusively for glaucoma patients
has been introduced. In addition to the Heidelberg
Retinal Tomograph, an Optical Coherence Tomography
machine has been installed exclusively for glaucoma
patients. The clinic also acquired an additional
Humphrey Visual Field Analyser.

Orbit, Oculopasty and Ocular Oncology

Services
The clinic at Madurai was shifted to spacious premises
on August 22. With a better infrastructure now, there
are separate areas allotted for research, prosthesis centre
and counselling. A fully equipped operation theatre for
performing minor surgical procedures and for postoperative care has been set up. Plans for a separate
aesthetic clinic are also underway.
Genetic testing was carried out in 30 retinoblastoma
patients and appropriate counselling was provided.
Next Generation Sequencing system Illumina-Miseq
was installed for improving the genetic testing of
retinoblastoma patients. This system will also be
useful to understand the process of tumor development
and progression of retinoblastoma. In addition to the
existing tests, newer methods (Promoter methylation,
!`&X' {'


retinoblastoma tumors.
The department at Pondicherry showed a sustainable
growth in both out-patient turn out and surgeries
especially orbitotomies. The clinic has started offering
long term fellowship.

Prof. Muthukkaruppan, Mr. G. Srinivasan and Dr. Natchiar with

Dr.Usha Kim at the inauguration of the renovated Orbit Services

27

Street play and Rally at Aravind - Tirunelveli

Awareness programmes for School children at Aravind - Coimbatore

Observing Eye Donation Fortnight

Blind Walk with visually challenged volunteers at Aravind - Madurai

28

Aravind Eye Banks

It was a year of achievements for Aravind Eye Banks.
Eighteen years into the journey in eye banking, Aravind
Eye Banks have so far harvested around 51,100 corneas.
This is a remarkable milestone in eye banking in India.
The efforts of Rotary Aravind International Eye Bank
(RAIEB) in reducing corneal blindness were recognised
and honored by two prestigious national forums SightLife and Eye Bank Association of India.
+=|/}^ 
years for maintaining international standards in eye
banking.
Aravinds eye donation centre at Kumbakonam,
'

 


India was nationally acclaimed for its productivity,
both in terms of cornea collection and utilisation. The
centre caters to eye donation calls 24 hours, 7 days
a week, with the help of technicians and the model
is being replicated by a few eye banks in India. The
centre also helped to create a good network to improve
eye donation in the community. A similar centre was
opened in Virudhunagar on August 26. Awareness
'

 

institutions, industries, to create awareness on eye
donation in the community. Propaganda given through
various social media helped in better networking and
creating a greater impact.
For the Hospital Cornea Retrieval Programme,
Aravind Eye banks have good tie up with the
Government and Non-governmental organisations.
Trained eye donation counsellors have been deputed
at the hospitals for providing counselling to the family
members of the deceased. Apart from using the tissues
at Aravind Eye Hospitals, over 250 corneal tissues were
distributed to other eye hospitals as well.
Inauguration of Eye Donation centre at Virudhunagar

Eye donation counsellor receiving consent from next of kin at the

mortuary in the Government hospital, Madurai
Eye bank in collaboration with Cornea Services offers
training programmes to cornea surgeons and staff
of other eye banks. In addition to this, eye bank also
extended its technical support to eye banks for effective
eye banking.

National Eye Donation Fortnight

Aravind Eye Hospitals observed organising various
programmes which included awareness lectures, rallies,
felicitating donor families and honoring NGOs who
supported the cause of eye donation. Pamphlets were
also distributed to the public seeking their support
towards eye donation.

Performance 2015 - 2016

Madurai
Coimbatore
Pondicherry
Tirunelveli
Total

Eyes collected
2,430
1,794
1,139
489
5,852

Eyes utilised
1,381
687
301
244
2,613

Training in counselling for eye donation to the staff of a private

hospital in Dindigul

29

Community Outreach

The outreach wing of Aravind that started as a simple cataract screening camp
has in the past four decades evolved into a comprehensive movement - that

  !!
    Q  
 
  
$
 

individuals help Aravind as sponsors to reach out to the remotest communities.

  $X$Z!  
 " Z[$[\

  

]\$^XZ
 
" 

New Initiatives in Outreach Camps

Keeping pace with technology advancements,
''' 
'
screening protocol in the last year.
Perkin s Tonometer replaced Shiotz, which ensured
high accuracy in measuring intraocular pressure.
To ensure proper compliance to spectacles wearing,
Aravind started providing spectacles free of cost for
post-op cataract patients during the review camps.
To facilitate smooth admission process, Aravind
started documenting the necessary details of the
patients to be brought to the base hospital for surgery at
the camp site itself.
Aravind has been imparting training to specially
 

'
examination in school children. The children thus
diagnosed with vision problems are further screened by
the hospital team. Recently, this training is provided
to all class teachers to perform preliminary vision
tests. This has proved to be more effective, in terms of
 


screening.
A monitoring system was developed to track the
follow up rate of speciality cases referred through
camps. To increase the compliance to follow up,
Aravind - Pondicherry, introduced a system in which

'

 '

^~
'
offered exclusive counselling. Aravind - Pondicherry
also initiated blood sugar examination at the camp site
itself which made sure that only those patients found to
 


'
The success of Aravinds outreach camps depends to
"



''
Using Perkins Tonometer at an eye camp

Training school teachers to perform preliminary vision tests

sponsors. Many a time it so happens that they are over
burdened with various responsibilities at the camp site.
To address this situation, Aravind - Pondicherry came
up with an innovative idea of identifying enthusiastic
volunteers from the community who would work
with the sponsors. PAVES-Programme for Aravind
Volunteers Support was conducted for these volunteers
on April 17 to orient them into the camp proceedings.
Nearly 65 volunteers took part from Cuddalore,
<''@

& 

and identity cards were issued to these volunteers.
Another innovation by Aravind - Pondicherry was the
introduction of fundus examination in comprehensive
camps which was found useful in identifying patients
with diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. Aravind Pondicherry started conducting diabetic retinopathy
screening camps in primary health centres in Karaikal
district after obtaining permission from the government
 
~




' 
Z

camps in primary health centres in Pondicherry.
Organisers of the DR camp at Karaikal Primary Health Centre

31

Towards Ensuring Universal Coverage in Eye Care

In the last decade, Aravind has moved on to serving
the communities through Primary Eye Care Centres
(Vision Centres). These are small, permanent facilities
set up to extend eye care service to remote and rural
communities. They offer innovative internet-based
information technology that allows patients in rural
areas to be remotely diagnosed by ophthalmologists at
the base hospital.
In the last year, six Vision Centres were established
at Pennadam (June 5); Ilayangudi (July 27);
Puthiamputhur (August 28); Sedapatti (November 27);
Rayavaram (January 22) and RS Mangalam (February
22), taking the total to 57 Vision Centres.
 
 
'<

Centres, the number of out patient visits handled at the
Vision and Community Centres (624,157) have crossed
the numbers seen through screening camps (570,761).
Permanent eye care facilities in rural areas encourage
people to seek earlier treatment for vision problems,
allowing them to reintegrate back into the workforce
instead of becoming increasingly unproductive due
to decreasing vision. This new pattern of proactively
seeking eye care before it is too late makes the role
of vision centres even more crucial in an eye care
institutions outreach initiatives.
Aravinds vision centre model is gaining increasing
acceptance and has been selected by the Government of
Uttar Pradesh to implement in 5 districts namely Agra,
GB Nagar, Kanpur, Gorakhpur and Allahabad. Recently,
upon invitation from the Uttar Pradesh Government,
Mr. Mohammed Gowth, Manager - Vision centres

made a presentation on this model in the presence of

Chief Minister, Shri. Akilesh Yadav and other senior
 
X8

Mr. Mohammed Gowth with Chief Minister Shri. Akilesh Yadav in

Uttar Pradesh

Training programmes for technicians of vision centres to equip

them to detect basic eye problems

32

Equipping Vision Centres to detect speciality

diseases
Aravind Eye Care System and Bosch joined hands
to provide comprehensive eye care through vision
centres. The vision centre would be equipped with
an eye camera, the MediBilder software and an
automated detection platform. The camera operates
on a rechargeable battery, thus making it lightweight
'@ 

be shared over telemedicine using the MediBilder
software. The automated detection algorithm can
detect and mark conditions like diabetic retinopathy
and glaucoma. Thus, a patient need not physically
travel all the way from his/her place to the hospital as
the vision centre serves the purpose. This initiative is
expected to enhance quality at primary eye care level
especially when it looks for diseases beyond cataract
and refractive errors.
Training programmes were organised for technicians
of vision centres at regular intervals to equip them to
detect basic eye problems.

Creating Awareness in the Community

Eye camps in addition to providing eye care, play a great
role in enhancing publics awareness of eye diseases
and improves the health-seeking behaviour of the

Puthiamputhur

Pennadam
RS Mangalam

Vision Centres inaugurated

Sedapatti

! XZ_X\

Rayavaram

Ilayangudi

33

community. Vision centres organised exclusive camps

for screening speciality eye diseases, thus creating
awareness about the disease amongst the public. Eye
care awareness rallies and seminars were organised on
various occasions.
Blindness prevention has always been a core
activity of Lions Clubs and they have a long-standing
association with Aravind Eye Hospitals. Every year,

/


 

of Lions Clubs to familiarise them with the basics of
common eye diseases. In the last year seminars were
held at Aravind - Madurai and Aravind - Coimbatore
on November 11 and Pondicherry on October 11. Lions
Cabinet has decided to promote diabetic retinopathy




 
care, the disease being the leading cause of irreversible
blindness.

Patients queuing up to be examined at the Thirukailayapuram

camp
experiences and discussed ideas that would enable them
to work more effectively.

Sponsors Day

/!*"  
X%

The main reason behind the success of Aravinds

outreach camps is the generous support extended by the
sponsors. Once in two years, Aravind organises sponsors
day to acknowledge their services towards outreach
programmes and also to get their feedback to improve
the effectiveness of the camps. At the sponsors day
conducted at Aravind - Theni and Salem, the sponsors
shared their long-time association with Aravind, their

Aravind has been conducting comprehensive eye

screening camp since 1994 in association with Vetrivel
Murugan Temple Committee in Thirukailayapuram
near Coimbatore. In April 2015, 1261 persons were
screened and 1006 patients were brought for surgery.
Thanks to the whole-hearted dedication of the team,
Aravind - Coimbatore achieved a rare feat of performing
999 surgeries in just two days.

Sponsors Day at Aravind - Theni

34

Q z !
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Comprehensive Eye Camps

Camps
 z
 ~!

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Glass delivered
On the spot deliveries
%

1,532
334,465
74,492
62,361
48,869
78%

% '   
*

"/!
Camps
Out-patients screened
 % '  *

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 Q#
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No. of Camps
 z


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#
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3,401
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153

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2,213 
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220,362 \$Z\ X$^ [$^]
 / 

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Schools served
Teachers trained
Total Strength of Children
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22
326
16,790 
3,241
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789
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751
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2


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35

Creating Eye Care Awareness in the Community

}  
 
 !
  "
 
  


 ' 
     
 !   # 
"'   !!


Glaucoma Awareness during World Glaucoma Week

Rally by Aravind-Pondicherry
Glaucoma Awareness Exhibition at Aravind-Tuticorin

Rally and Exhibition by Aravind-Tirunelveli

36

% '   



"=% '  %
DR screening camp at Primary Health Centre
(PHC) Devadhanapatty, Theni

DR Awareness exhibition along with DR camp

at Aravind-Madurai

DR Awareness exhibition at Aravind-Pondicherry


z ! Qz

at Childrens Hospitals by Aravind-Coimbatore

Awareness on Common Eye Diseases

   

37

Education and Training

You train everyone, every day - you coach them, guide them, play with them.
So you can develop them quickly as top players. So they have to develop a
physical stamina, mental capacity and a vision. This our doctors feel and they
carry it all their lives
#%+!

 +  

With the steady growth

in the volume of its work
and the ever expanding
facilities at Aravind, there is
a constant need for trained
personnel at all levels. The
same scenario provides
excellent opportunities for
learning making Aravind an
ideal centre for education
and training.
In the last year ending
March 2016, Aravind
has trained 506 eye care
professionals through
its various clinical and
management courses.
Every year, Aravind recruits girls who
have completed their school education
and trains them on-the-job as MLOPs
(Mid-Level Ophthalmic Personnel), for
the various jobs-nursing, housekeeping,
administration, catering etc.
MLOPs, the undisputed heroes behind
Aravinds success, have been the backbone
of the organisation from the beginning.
Today, there are over 2,200 MLOPs
across all Aravind facilities.

Candidates Trained 2015-16

Total Candidates : 506
POSTGRADUATE COURSES
Diploma in Ophthalmology (2 years)
Master of Surgery in Ophthalmology (3 years)
Diplomate of the National Board (3 years)
Post DO DNB (2 years)

8
12
10
13

LONG TERM - OPHTHALMOLOGY FELLOWSHIP

Ant. Segment / Intraocular Lens Microsurgery (2 years)

11

Orbit & Oculoplasty (18 mths)

Paediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus (18 months)
Glaucoma (2 years)
Retina Vitreous (2 years)
Cornea (18 mths)
Comprehensive Ophthalmology (2 years)
Fellowship in General Ophthalmology (6 mths)

5
14
9
17
18
2
13

SHORT TERM - FELLOWSHIP (FOR INTERNATIONAL CANDIDATES)

Cornea (6 mths)
Glaucoma (6 mths)
Orbit & Oculoplasty (6 mths)

1
1
2

SHORT TERM - CLINICAL COURSES

ECCE - IOL Microsurgery (1 mth)
3
Small Incision Cataract Surgery (1 mth)
26
z !  
!
^\
Diagnosis and Management of Glaucoma (1 mth)
22
Lasers in Diabetic Retinopathy Management (2 mths)
33
Vitrectomy (Virtual) (2 weeks)
3
Management of Retinopathy of Prematurity & Paedia. Retinal Disorders (1 mth) 8
Orientation to Paediatric Ocular Anesthesia for Anaesthetists (1 mth)
1
Neuro-Ophthalmology (3 months)
3
SHORT TERM - PARAMEDICAL COURSES
Optical Dispensing (3 mths)
OT Techniques (2 mths)
Refraction Techniques (2 mths)
Orthoptist (6 mhs)
Ocularist (3 weeks)
Fundus Fluorescein Angiography and Ultrasonography (2 mths)
Vision Technicians
MANAGEMENT COURSES
Management Priorities in Eye Care Delivery (1 week)
Management Training and Systems Development for
Hospital Administrators / Managers (4 weeks)
Project Management training for Eye Care (4 weeks)
Eyexcel - Expanding Global Eye Care Workforce
through Excellence in Training (4 Days)
Research Methodology (5 Days)
Medical Records Management
Management Training for Eye Care Programme Managers
Community Outreach and Social Marketing of Eye Care
Services (4 weeks)
Instrument Maintenance - for Technicians (6 weeks)

7
6
13
4
8
4
3
23
15
9
35
41
5
16
10
36
39

CMEs and Training Programmes

held at Aravind
Vaigeye 2015 - 63rd Annual Conference of Tamil
Nadu Ophthalmic Association (TNOA)
Madurai, July 24-26

Medical College and Govt. Rajaji Hospital. The

support from the management of Velammal Medical
college contributed tremendously to the success of
the conference. Around 1,100 delegates attended the


 




including many live surgeries.

Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai in collaboration with

Madurai Ophthalmologists Association organised the
63rd Annual Conference of Tamil Nadu Ophthalmic
Association at Velammal Medical College, Madurai.
The conference was inaugurated by Mr. Subroto Bagchi,
Chairman, Mindtree, Bangalore. Guests of honour
included Sri Muthuramalingam, Chairman - Velammal
Medical College and Velammal Group of Educational
Institutions and Dr. Revathi Kailairajan, Dean, Madurai

Postgraduate Update in Ophthalmology

Mr. Subroto Bagchi, Ms. Susmita Bagchi, Dr. G. Natchiar and

Dr. Sharmila lighting the lamp at the inauguration of TNOA

Dr. Ravindra Bhattu, Dr. Navin Jaya Kumar and

Dr. Mahesh Kumar at the Postgraduate Update in Ophthalmology

Aravind - Coimbatore, September 4 - 6

The All India Ophthalmic Society (AIOS) education

committee organised a three day South Zone Update
at Aravind - Coimbatore. The programme covered all
sub-specialities of ophthalmology. Academic sessions
featured examination techniques, case presentations
and discussions. Faculty consisted of eminent teachers
from leading teaching institutions of South India.

Dr. Revathi Kailairajan delivering the felicitation address at TNOA Conference, Madurai

40

Session in progress at the USI conference

Dr. Manohar Babu felicitating Dr. Narsing A Rao at the USI

conference

AIOS Leadership Development Programme

Dr. Partha Biswas (Chairman-Academic and Research

Committee, AIOS), Mr. R.D.Thulasiraj (Executive
Director, LAICO) Dr. R.D.Ravindaran (Chairman,
AECS), Dr. S.Aravind (Director, Projects, AECS) and
~+<
&!Y  
Pondicherry).

Aravind - Pondicherry, September 12-13

The world is changing at a bewildering pace, technology

is moving ahead, new economies are emerging and at
the same time organisations are restructuring with a
view to consolidate their core competencies. In other
words, organisations today demand leaders to sharpen
their inherent skills and be prepared to face every
'
 /

motive behind conducting the Leadership Development
Programme jointly by All India Ophthalmic Society
(AIOS) and Aravind Eye Care System (AECS) at
Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry. The programme was
attended by 17 ophthalmologists, mostly healthpreneurs,
from all over the country. The programme was led by
Dr. S. Natarajan (CMD, Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital),

15th Annual Conference of Uveitis Society of India

Aravind - Pondicherry, October 23-25

Hosted by Aravind - Pondicherry, a total of 189

delegates including 39 faculty attended the meeting. The
inaugural Dr. G.Venkataswamy Endowment Award was
presented to Dr. Narsing A Rao in appreciation of his


 '
~|!| &!Y  
Salem was elected as the President of the Uveitis
Society of India.

Outbound learning session for the participants of AIOS Leadership development programme at Aravind-Pondicherry

41

Mr. Zoran Pejic, Ms. Daisy Godts, Dr. Rupa and

Dr.P.Vijayalakshmi at the inauguration of the Orthoptics CME

Dr. Shashikant Shetty felicitating Dr. Matt J Dunn at the

Orthoptics CME

Cornea Reconnect

Orthoptics Decoded: A Symposium on Basics

and Advances in Strabismus and Nystagmus Evaluation and Management

Aravind - Coimbatore, October 31 - November 1

The CME dealt with the diseases of ocular surface and

cornea and refractive surgery. A total of 275 delegates
attended the meeting including Aravind postgraduates
and fellows. Apart from Aravind team, the faculty
included Dr. Prema Padmanabhan, Sankara Netralaya,
Chennai; Dr. D. Ramamurthy, The Eye Foundation,
Coimbatore; Dr. Sachin Mathew George, Khoo Teck
Puat Hospital, Singapore; Dr. Virender Sangwan,
L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad; Dr. Samar Basak,
Disha Eye Hospital, Kolkata; Dr. J.K. Reddy and
Dr. K.S. Siddharthan from Sankara Eye Hospital,
Chennai; Dr. Radhika Tandon, Dr. Namrata Sharma and
Dr. Vanathi Ganesh from All India Institute of Medical
Sciences, Delhi.
Participants to Cornea Reconnect CME at Aravind-Coimbatore

42

Aravind - Madurai, October 31 - November 1

The science of Orthoptics and recent advances in the

realm of binocular vision and strabismus presents
a formidable challenge to ophthalmologists and
orthoptists. A sound knowledge of systematic orthoptic
work-up and non - surgical intervention is required
 '


Paediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus clinic
at Aravind - Madurai organised the symposium that
aimed at exploring advancing research, providing up '

delegates an opportunity to share ideas and experiences





 




At the inauguration of SPOSI organised by Aravind-Coimbatore

emphasised on advancements in the diagnosis and
management of Nystagmus.
Faculty included Daisy Godts, Chief Orthoptist,
Antwerp University Hospital, Belgium; Zoran Pejic,
Y'
<
~ /'
 Y

Pvt Ltd, Singapore; Matt J Dunn, Deputy Director and
Optometrist, Research Unit for Nystagmus, Cardiff
University, UK; Leen Staelens, Optometrist, Eye Clinic,
Deurne, Belgium; Rizwana, Optometrist, Sankara
Nethralaya, Chennai; Arnab Banerjee, Orthoptist,
Sankara Nethralaya, Kolkata; and Premkumar Singh,
HOD, Optometry, Dr.Shroffs Charity Eye Hospital,
Delhi. Over 240 delegates participated in the
symposium.

22nd Annual Conference of Strabismus and

Paediatric Ophthalmology Society of India (SPOSI)
Aravind - Coimbatore, December 12-13

Aravind - Coimbatore hosted the annual conference at

Hotel Le-Meridien, Coimbatore under the chairmanship
of Dr. P.Vijayalakshmi and Dr.Kalpana Narendran
as Organising secretary. Around 200 delegates from
all over India and abroad attended the conference.
Dr.Marilyn Miller, Professor of Ophthalmology, Illinois
==  \

& 
U.S.A inaugurated the conference. It provided a
healthy platform for young ophthalmologists to share
their experiences through video sessions, free papers,
interesting case presentations and e-posters.

Residents Social Responsibility Programme

The postgraduate doctors at Aravind with their extremely busy academic and clinical schedule hardly have time to
get to know more about the softer aspects of life. Residents Social Responsibility programme, an initiative started
six years ago exposes and sensitises them to the plight
of the less-privileged in the community. It provides
opportunities for them to help them in whatever ways
they could to make a difference in those unfortunate
peoples lives, beyond medical care. The activities
included feeding the abandoned and the mentally ill
on the streets, visiting children in orphanages and
senior citizens in old age homes, spending time with
them who have been left uncared for by their dear ones
and so on. In the last year, sales of products made by
visually challenged people was organised at Aravind Madurai. The products made by women at Trichy-based
Rehabilitation Centre for the Blind included incense
sticks, candles, bed linen, kitchen towels, door mats,
cloth napkins, tea coasters, baskets etc. The enthusiastic team of postgraduate students helped the centre collect a
handsome amount of Rs. 1,50,000 from the sales.
43

Internal Capacity Building

Dr. Neethu Mohan, Glaucoma Services,

Aravind - Madurai

Dr. Devendra Maheswari, Glaucoma Services

Aravind - Tirunelveli

At Wilmer Eye Hospital, Baltimore, Dr. Neethu

observed the clinics and surgeries with stalwarts in
 ~Z'+ ~
Quigley and Dr. David Friedman. She observed the
technique of laser suture lysis of the tube ligation suture
of Baerveldt implant, which seemed to give controlled
and predictable outcomes.
Dr. Neethu observed at the operating room and clinic
with Dr. Alan Robin. At the University of Maryland,
she established contacts with doctors interested in
doing a collaborative study with Aravind. At Bascom
Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, she observed with Dr.Steve
Gedde, pioneer of the Trab versus Tube study. She
watched a number of tube surgeries and tube revisions.
It was interesting for her to observe the meticulous
 

YX
their patients. She was also fortunate to observe
Dr. R.Parrish in his clinic.
Dr. Neethu observed Dr. Joseph Panarelli in the clinic
and OR at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York. She got
an opportunity to observe tube surgeries in paediatric
glaucoma, 360 degree trabeculotomy with i science
micro catheter and innovative techniques of venting
the Baerveldt. She also observed Dr. Janet Serle in the
clinic and was surprised to see Goldmann perimetry
still being done especially in those who are unable to do
HFA. She could see many interesting cases of anterior
segment imaging in secondary glaucoma.
Dr. Neethu had the opportunity to make a
presentation on Aravind and small incision cataract
surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital and the New York
== Y 


Dr. Devendra Maheswari visited Kellogg Eye Centre,

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he spent
time with Dr. Paul Lichter in his clinic and operating
room. He observed Dr. Paul still practising old glaucoma
surgeries called thermal sclerostomy with excellent
results. He also spent time with Dr. Paul Lee, the
current chair and head of Glaucoma Services to learn
evidence based glaucoma practice and essential tips for
long term successful trabeculectomy. He attended the
38th Annual Mid-West Glaucoma Symposium - IOP.
At Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins university,
Baltimore, Dr. Devendra met Dr. Pradeep Ramulu who
is in charge of resident teaching and discussed the
prospects of future research collaboration with Aravind.
He also met with Dr. David S Friedman, head of Dana
center of Preventive Ophthalmology.
At Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida,
Dr. Devendra observed Dr. Richard Paris, Head of
Glaucoma Services and Dr. Steven J Gedde. He observed
GDD surgeries and management of its complications.
Finally, he attended the Annual meeting of American
Academy at Las Vegas, Nevada and attended glaucoma
and retina subspecialty days. He also participated in
skill transfer courses on Schlemm Canal Surgery with
Drs. Iqbal K Ahmed, Alan S Crandall MD, and Robert
Stegmann MD as main instructors.
Dr. Neethu Mohan and Dr. Devendra Maheswari with
Dr.Christine Melton and her husband Dr. Richard Hirschman in
!"#$#   
 %&
to Aravind almost three decades ago. For the past several years,
their house has become a home away from home to all Aravind
doctors who go to New York for observership

44

Dr. Neethu Mohan and Dr. Devendra Maheshwari with Dr. Steve
Gedde at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute

attended the sub-speciality day and a few instruction

courses including those on glaucoma following Boston
keratoprosthesis and RNFL imaging.

Dr. Dayakar Yadella, Orbit and Oculoplasty Services

Aravind - Pondicherry
At Kelloggs Eye Centre, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA,
Dr. Dayakar observed the excellent orbit and
oculoplasty team with state of art technology like
Stryker CORE with Neuro drill/burr, saw with
SONOPET technology and 3D-Imaging similar to
C-ARM technology in orthopaedics. It was a thrilling
experience to observe orbital decompression without
injuring the brain. He had the opportunity to spend
time with Dr. Raymond Douglas, the world renowned
expert in thyroid eye diseases and section editor in
Smith and Nesi Orbit and Oculoplasty book, in his
clinics and surgeries. He interacted with Dr. Alon
Kahana, senior consultant in Orbit and Oculoplasty,
section editor in Smith and Nesi-Orbit and Oculoplasty
book. He suggested the idea of making an opening
inside the lacrimal intubation tube and leaving it in
the lacrimal sac as it acts as an excellent passage in
common canalicular block patients which can be
manufactured in Aurolab. He attended the weekly grand
rounds, clinical meetings and also the international
ophthalmology night. He also met Dr. Paul Littman,
Director, Proctor foundation who is closely associated
with Aravind.
At Moran Eye Centre, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA,
Dr. Dayakar got the opportunity to observe Dr. Patel in
his clinics. He learnt a lot from him, especially patient
communication skills. He learned the intricacies of
oculoplastic surgery from him. At the AAO meeting in
Las Vegas, he attended the retina sub-speciality day,
Dr. Dayakar Yadella, Dr. Alon Kahana at Kelloggs Eye Centre

orbit symposium and instruction courses. He interacted

with excellent international faculty like Peter Dolman
and Tim Sullivan.
Dr. Dayakar observed Dr. David Changs high volume,
high-end cataract surgery. Dr. David uses split drape to
cover the eye instead of placing the drape and cutting
it open, it covers very well, no eye lashes exposed and a
very good view. He does CCC under saline which saves
a lot of visco and uses capsule polisher before placing
IOL, which helps a lot in preventing PCO formation.

Dr. Kowsalya, Neuro-Ophthalmology Services,

Aravind - Madurai
Dr. Kowsalya started her observation in the
department of Neuro-ophthalmology at Mass Eye
= /''

examination and management of patients with all
neuro ophthalmological disorders, especially Giant cell
Arteritis. She interacted with stalwarts like Dr.Dean
Cestari, Dr. Joseph Rizzo and Dr. John Gittinger. She
got an opportunity to see Temporal Artery Biopsy
for GCA and also strabismus surgeries with Dr.Dean
Cestari. She also got to be in the radiology reading
room to read MRI images of head and neck with
Dr.Hugh Curtin. At the Visual Rehabilitation Centre,
Dr. Kowsalya observed patients with Dr. Gallantis.
She presented a case report on Fulminant Idiopathic
Intracranial Hypertension in the Neuro-Ophthalmology
Conference and attended a guest lecture by Dr. Lui
Grant on Paediatric Pseudotumour Cerebri. She also
attended a CME on Visual Function at Schepens Eye
Research Institute, Boston. She got to observe cataract




 "Y}'
with Pseudophacodonesis. Dr. Kowsalya visited Boston
Eye and Laser Centre to observe Dr. Bradford Shingleton
Dr. Joseph Rizzo and Dr. Kowsalya at the Mass Eye and Ear
' 

45

- his extensive preoperative work up, meticulous

cataract surgeries and Yag capsulotomy. At the AAO
conference in Las Vegas, she attended the meetings of
Retina and Refractive Surgery subspeciality as well as
Neuro-ophthalmology sessions.

Dr. Karthik Srinivasan, Retina and Vitreous Services,

Aravind - Tirunelveli
Dr. Karthik Srinivasan visited the Massachusetts Eye
= |
 \//'8
- October 30. He got an opportunity to interact with


 +

'
Dr. Dean Elliot, Dr. Evangelos S. Gragoudas, Dr. Deeba
Husain, Dr. John I. Loewenstein, Dr. Joan W. Miller,
Dr.Shizuo Mukai, Dr. Demetrios Vavvas and Dr. Lucy
H.Y. Young. He observed Dr. Dean Eliott in his surgeries
and also attended his clinics. He also took part in the
grand rounds, lectures and case discussions.
From November 2-9 he was at Vanderbilt Eye
Institute, Nashville, Tennessee where he did an
observership under Dr. Anita Agarwal. He also got an
opportunity to see cases that he had only seen in text
books.
At Las Vegas, Dr. Karthik attended the subspeciality
day on Retina at the Annual Meet of the American
Academy of Ophthalmology from November 12-16.
At Dusseldorf, Germany, he attended the MEDICA
expo from November 17-19 which attracted 130,000
specialist visitors from around 120 nations. He also
visited Aurelios Augenzentrum, Recklinghausen,
Germany where he met and observed Dr. Gabor
Scharioth from November 22-25.

Dr. Karthik Srinivasan with Dr. Dean Elliot at Mass Eye and Ear
' ?

46

Conferences Attended Elsewhere

^ z  !Q!"/
" 
Guangzhou, China, April 1-4

DR. R. VENKATESH
- Economics of successful high volume cataract surgery system:
the Aravind model
- Manual small incision ECCE
- Pre - operative planning with wetlab & OSCAR grading
- The new Aravind tube shunt
+ /&'&
     
subluxated lenses and small pupils
+ /       
 ;'<   <  
'=>
DR. S. KAVITHA
- Family history in angle closure glaucoma
- SICS basics

Annual Conference of American Society of Cataract and

Refractive Surgery
San Diego, USA, April 15-25

DR. KALPANA NARENDRAN

- Verion image guided system
DR. R. VENKATESH
Panelist at ASCRS video symposium on
- Challenging cataract cases
DR. SANDRA GANESH
- Chief instructor in Instruction course Biometry in Pediatric
Cataract and co-instructor in Maximising Uncorrected Visual
Outcomes post Cataract surgery

World Cornea Congress

San Diego, USA, April 15-18

DR. N. VENKATESH PRAJNA

- MUTT- Trials and tribulations

Dr. A. Vanniarajan at the American Association for cancer

Research meeting, Pennsylvania

American Association for Cancer Research Meeting

Pennsylvania, USA, April 18-22

DR. A. VANNIARAJAN
- Advanced paternal age as a possible risk factor for
retinoblastoma (poster)

He also participated in the panel discussion on

Innovations in health care delivery.

Annual Conference of the World Association of Eye

Hospitals (WAEH)
Singapore, May 22

Annual Conference of US Association for Research in

Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)
Denver, Colorado, USA, May 3 - 7

DR. P. SUNDARESAN
- Establishment of retinal mitoscriptome gene expression
signature for diabetic retinopathy using human cadaver eye
DR. M. VIDYARANI
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa induced autophagy in human corneal
epithelial cells
DR. D. BHARANIDHARAN
+ @  !<
  
DR. A. VANNIARAJAN
- A new sequential screening strategy for rapid diagnosis of
retinoblastoma
MS. K. JHANSI RANI
- miR-203 inhibits Np63a dependent clonogenicity in corneal
epithelial stem cells (CESCs)
MS. ROOPAM DUVESH
+    Q 
X[
eyes
DR. SABYASACHI SENGUPTA
- Screening for vision threatening diabetic retinopathy using a
portable hand held non-mydriatic fundus camera
Dr. P. Sundaresan participated in the Asian Eye
Genetics Consortium and Global Eye Genetics Research
group meeting.

Canada India Healthcare Summit 2015

Ontario, Toronto, Canada, May 19 - 20

DR. P. NAMPERUMALSAMY
- Aravind model - inspiring innovations expanding horizons
Aravind Medical Research Foundation (AMRF) team at the USARVO conference, Denver, Colorado

DR. KIM
- EMR design considerations - Aravinds approach
DR. USHA KIM
- How to improve patient safety?
- Strengthening tertiary care services through primary eye care
DR. MEENAKSHI
- Ophthalmic care for community and role of ophthalmic
technicians -Aravinds experience in PEC
MR. GANESH BABU
- EMR rollout : patient and staff dynamics

Singapore National Eye Centre: Ophthalmic Plastic and

Reconstructive Surgery (OPRS) Symposium
Singapore, May 23

DR. USHA KIM

- Optic nerve sheath fenestration: different surgical approaches

4th Foresight 2015

Suntec City, Singapore, May 24

DR. HARIPRIYA ARAVIND

- Challenging case management with advanced technology - My
experience on centurion for challenging cases

11th Annual Conference of VISION 2020

Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, June 6 7

R.D. THULASIRAJ
- Role of leadership in generating demand
As Chairperson for the sessions:
- Measuring and monitoring quality indicators for continual
improvement
- Quality Tools
Mr. Ganesh Babu, Dr. Usha Kim and Dr. Meenakshi at the
Annual Conference of WAEH, Singapore

47

- RCA (Root Cause Analysis) and CAPA (Corrective Action

Preventive Action)
- Lean sigma methodology for continuous quality improvement
- Devil is in the details clinical audit
- Vision centres and technology - the key to universal coverage
DR. R.D. RAVINDRAN
- Leadership perspective - ensuring quality of service delivery
- Outreach Initiative to promote community eye donation
As Chairperson for the sessions:
- Infection control principles and practices
- Investigating an endophthalmitis
- Cluster endophthalmitis and its repercussions
- Measuring cataract outcome
As moderator for the sessions:
+ ^
_ `$ 
  

balance
As panelist:
- Accreditation: Issues, challenges and solutions
DHIVYA RAVILLA
- Measuring and monitoring patient satisfaction
R. MEENAKSHI SUNDARAM
- Aravind model of vision center
USHALINI RASAIAH
- Quality Journey - sharing the Aravind experience

World Glaucoma Congress

Hong Kong, June 9

DR. MOHIDEEN ABDUL KADER

- Comparison of outcomes of Mitomycin-C augmented trabe   < { 

22nd Annual meeting of Indian Eye Research Group ARVO - India Chapter
Hyderabad, July 25-26

THIRUMALAI RAJ
+ ' 
   
retinoblastoma patients
Dr. Mohideen Abdul Kader at the World Glaucoma Congress,
Hong Kong

48

K. JHANSI RANI
- Role of miR-203 in suppressing stemness in human corneal
epithelial stem cells (CESCs) through Np63a inhibition
B. HEMADEVI
- Differentially expressed micro RNAs in human cornea with
fungal keratitis
V. NITHYA
- Comparative genome analysis of ocular methicilin resistant
Staphylococcus aureus isolates
ROOPESH R. PAI
- Quantitative proteomics of serum biomarkers for proliferative
diabetic retinopathy
SANDHYA KRISHNAN
+ [  
 
 {  
patients

X]

_ 
" z   

Cataract and Refractive Surgeons
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, July 27-30

DR. ANITHA
- Fungal keratitis caused by Exserohilum
DR. HARSHAL RATHI
- Isolated conjunctival lichen planus: A diagnostic dilemma
DR. NISHANTH RAJAN
- Initial experience with the verion guided femto cataract surgery

 z +  # 

* /
" 
Sydney, Australia, July 29 - August 2

DR. NARESH BABU

+ |}~~&
@< {    

primary vitrectomy for retinal detachment surgery
- Dislocated posterior chamber intraocular lens with
decompensated cornea - Management with simultaneous
Descemets Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty and
 < 
  

AMRF team at the annual meeting of Indian Eye Reserach Group,

Hyderabad

DR. ANAND RAJENDRAN

- Combined transpupillary thermotherapy and pharmacotherapy
for bullous chronic central serous Chorioretinopathy with
anterior segment neovascularisation
DR. MEHER TEJ RAVULA
- Reversible night blindness -A case series



!! 
* /
" 
San Francisco, USA, September 25-27

DR. S.R. RATHINAM

- Clinical features of Leptospirosis, Chickunguniya
- Challenges in the diagnosis of ocular TB
- Molecular diagnosis of Westnile Virus ocular infection: recent
advances
DR. VEDHANAYAKI
- Autoimmune retinopathy
DR. BHAGYA SUDHEER
+  
 

5th International Congress on Patient Safety

Bangalore, October 16 -17

DR. HARIPRIYA ARAVIND

- Why measure?

15th Annual Meeting of the Uveitis Society of India

Pondicherry, October 23- 25

DR. B. MANOHAR BABU

- How do I plan cataract surgery in uveitis
DR. ANURADHA
- Paediatric uveitis: Indian scenario
DR. KAVITHA SRINIVASAN
- Glaucoma in uveitis
DR. V. NARENDRAN
- Managing retinal complications of local therapy
DR. V.R. SARAVANAN
- B scan & ultrasound biomicroscopy in uveitis

Dr. S.R. Rathinam, Dr. Vedanayaki and Dr. Bhagya Sudheer at the
'  '{  &&  %&

Dr. R. Kim chaired the session on vitreoretinal diseases.

Dr. Manjunath, Dr. Rama, Dr. Navakant, Dr.Sarita,
Dr. Pallavi participated in the conference.


 
 
/
" 
Q
!! 


infection
Barcelona, Spain, September 3-4

DR. PANKAJA DHOBLE

- Crane pecking endophthalmitis - An unusual mode

3rd Congress of World Society of Paediatric

Ophthalmology and Strabismus
Barcelona, Spain, September 4-6

DR. P. VIJAYALAKSHMI
- Study of risk factors, visual and developmental outcome in cases
of radiologically proven periventricular leukomalacia (free
paper)
- The role of stakeholders in developing services
DR. SHASHIKANT SHETTY
- Study of Ocular & general morbidity in babies treated for
retinopathy of prematurity (e-poster)
- Large face turn with nystagmus developing diplopia due to
esotropia post augmented Kestenbaum Anderson surgery
DR. PRIYANKA SINGH
- Double augmented vertical rectus transposition for treatment
of large angle strabismus in Abducens nerve palsy (e-poster)
DR. TULIKA KAR
- Risk factors, time of onset and management outcomes of
      
 _
developmental cataract

European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons

Barcelona, Spain, September 5 -9

DR. MARIE FREDRICK

- A comparative study on retroiridal iris claw lens Vs. sutureless
 <     
  
support

Dr. P. Vijayalakshmi at WSPOS conference, Barcelona

49

Dr. Naresh Babu at Euretina conference, Nice

Dr. Venkatesh at the International Forum on Quality and Safety

in Healthcare, Hong Kong

European Vitreo Retinal Society (EVRS) 2015

International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare

Venice, Italy, September 9-17

Hong Kong, September 28-30

DR. PRABHU BHASKARAN

- Angle closure glaucoma secondary to polypoidal choroidal
vasculopathy - a devastating complication (poster)

DR. R. VENKATESH
- Establishing a successful organisational approach to quality

Euretina-2015

Glaucoma Connect - Annual Conference of Glaucoma

Society of India

Nice, France, September 15- 22

Mumbai, October 2-4

DR. KIM
- Diabetic vitrectomies: Current practices
DR. NARESH BABU
+ |}~~
 < {    

primary vitrectomy for retinal detachment surgery

14th Human Proteome Organization World Congress

(HUPO 2015)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, September 27- 30

DR. JEYA MAHESWARI

- Proteomics of ocular diseases

Dr. Jeya Maheswari at HUPO 2015

50

DR. R.RAMAKRISHNAN
- Optimising antiglaucoma surgery
- Surgical considerations for angle closure disease
He was also the judge for free paper session
DR. MOHIDEEN
- Detection of progression in a case of POAG would indicate
change of treatment
DR. GANESH V RAMAN
- Which therapy to initiate based on the target IOP
DR. SARIKA
- Effect of postural changes on intraocular pressure in primary
open angle glaucoma and primary angle closure glaucoma
patients using Perkins tonometer
Dr. Ganesh V Raman at the Glaucoma Society of India conference

DR. R. VENKATESH
- Intraoperative challenging situations in valve implantations
- Novel glaucoma screening in an outreach camp in developing
world (video)
Instruction courses:
+ +<      `/  

situation in combined surgery
- Lasers in glaucoma-CLASS (CO2 laser assisted Sclerectomy)
DR. S. KAVITHA
- Family history is a strong risk factor for prevalent angle closure
in a south Indian population
- Novel glaucoma family screening program using motivational
cards and family screening software

Silver Jubilee Celebrations of Eye Bank Association of

India and National CME on Eye Banking

Mr. Sanil Joseph at the Annual Meet of AAO

New Delhi, October 9-11

Annual Meet of American Academy of Ophthalmology

DR. M.SRINIVASAN
- Transplanting corneas from donors who died due to consuming
poison
MR. SARAVANAN
- Eye Donation Nodal Centre Project (EDNC)

Annual Conference of Ocular Trauma Society of India

Guwahati, October 30 - November 1

DR. NARESH
- Intraocular foreign body- Management
- Siderosis
DR. RENU P RAJAN
- Ocular Siderosis : presentation, management and outcomes
- Posterior segment manifestations of blunt trauma
DR. KARTHIK
- Clinical presentation and outcome of 23-20G vitrectomy for
retained posterior segment IOFB

Dr. M. Srinivasan at the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of Eye Bank

Association of India

Las Vegas, USA, November 14-17

DR. KALPANA NARENDRAN

- Retinopathy of Prematurity - Innovation to reach NICUs in
rural India
DR. NARENDARN
- Scleral auto Graft for Management of Chronic Maculopathy
Associated with Optic Nerve Head Pit
MR. SANIL JOSEPH
- Effectiveness of telemedicine in identifying diabetic retinopathy
cases compared with universal referral
DR. V.R. VIVEKANANDAN
- Instructor in SICS instruction course and wetlab training
Dr. V.R. Vivekanand and Dr. Vishnu Deepthi attended
the AAO conference and did an observation at Wilmer
Eye Hospital, Baltimore under Dr. David Friedman,
at Moran Eye Centre, Salt Lake City, under Dr. Alan
Crandall, Dr. Geoff Tabin, Dr.Jeff Pattey and also
observed surgeries of Dr. Bob Cionni and Dr.David
Chang in their hospitals.

Dr. V.R. Vivekanandan at the SICS instruction course at AAO

51

Annual Conference of Oculoplasty Association of India

Bhubaneswar, Orissa, December 4-6

DR. VIJI RENGARAJAN

- Controversies in oculoplasty - lymphangiomas - Surgery vs
Sclerosing agents
+ X    
 
type I - Awarded as best Video
- Orbital vicarious menstruation (e-poster)
DR. HARIKRISHNAN M
- The cystic eye (free paper)
DR. NAMRATA ADULKAR
- Invasive sino orbital fungal infection in immuno competent
patients - retrospective study (free paper)
Dr. K. Ilango at the WHO -ICC, Rome

14th Federation of Asian and Oceanian Biochemists and

Molecular Biologists Congress & 84th Annual meeting of
Society of Biological Chemists (SBC) India
Hyderabad, November 27-30

DR. P.SUNDARESAN
- Ocular diseases gene discovery

Annual Conference of Vitreoretinal Society of India

Kumarakom, Kerala, December 3-5

DR.R.KIM
/ &&Z

DR. NARESH BABU
- IOFB management
DR. ANAND RAJENDRAN
- Retinal vascular diseases - Vexing Vasculature
(Panel discussion)
- Refractory DME: Management mantras
DR. GEORGE MANAYATH
- Refractory DME: Management mantras (Case 1)
DR. JATINDER SINGH
- Refractory DME: Management mantras (Case 3)
DR. MEHER TEJ RAVULA
+ &  
 
  
exudative AMD
DR. CHIRAG D ODEDARA
+ &
 
 
   
sclerostomy before cataract surgery in eyes with
nanophthalmos
DR. HAEMOGLOBIN
- To evaluate the clinical presentations and outcome of 23-20g
vitrectomy for retained posterior segment intraocular foreign
bodies
DR. V.R. SARAVANAN
- Dyes, stains and macular surgeries
DR. PARAG SHAH
- Retinoblastoma - Current management
Dr. Manjunath, Dr. Venugopal Reddy, Dr. Sarita,
Dr. Syed, Dr. Viswanath, Dr. Navakant and Dr. Sarita
attended the conference.
52

8th International Conference of International Society

of Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgeons and 8th
Annual Conference of Pune Ophthalmological Society
Comprehensive Cataract Conference
Pune, December 4-6

DR. R.D. RAVINDRAN

- Keynote Address: Improving outcomes in Manual small incision
cataract surgery through monitoring
- Visual outcomes and complications in Manual small incision
cataract surgery in a large volume set up
- Experience of Intracameral antibiotics in prevention of
postoperative endophthalmitis

WHO-International Consensus Conference on Visual

Rehabilitation Standards (WHO-ICC)
Rome, December 9-12

~[
 Y
attend the conference as a technical expert for the
South-East Asia Region.

Keracon - Annual Conference of Cornea Society of India

Kolkata, December 11-13

DR. M.SRINIVASAN
- Invited speaker: Overview of Clinical Trials in Infective
Keratitis
Dr. Revathi offering hands-on training at Keracon 2015

DR. N. VENKATESH PRAJNA

- Mycotic ulcer treatment trial
- Medical management of fungal corneal infections
DR. K. TIRUVENGADA KRISHNAN
- Post refractive surgery keratitis
DR. REVATHI. R
- Steroids for Corneal Ulcer Trial
- Cataract surgery in ocular surface problem
DR. ANITHA
- Scleral infections
DR. ARUN KUMAR PANIGRAHI
- D.M.D Repair outcomes

DR. FATHIMA
+  
 
DR. SANDRA GANESH
- Muscle Transposition Surgeries
Dr. Rupa, Dr. Jamuna, Dr. Sathya, Dr. Pooja, Dr. Ribadu,
Dr. Palak Macwana attended the conference

2016 World Ophthalmology Congress of the

International Council of Ophthalmology
Hosted by the Mexican Society of Ophthalmology,
Guadalajara, Mexico, January 5-9

22nd Annual Conference of Strabismus and Paediatric

Ophthalmology Society of India (SPOSI)
Aravind - Coimbatore, December 12-13

DR. P. VIJAYALAKSHMI
- Cerebral visual impairment
DR. VRUSHALI
- Surgical outcome of nystagmus surgery (e- poster)
- Outcome of large V pattern surgery (e -poster)
DR. TULIKA KAR
- Role of Superior oblique anterior transposition (Scotts
  
 
<  
muscles
DR. POOJA KEWLANI
- Double augmented vertical rectus transposition for treatment
of large angle strabismus in sixth nerve palsy (free paper)
DR. K. VEENA
- Paediatric cataract management
DR. R. MEENAKSHI
- Chaired the session on Esotropia
DR. DIVYA KISHAN
- Ocular associations and prognosis in paediatric cortical visual
impairment with Corpus Callosum Agenesis in a tertiary care
centre
DR. NEELAM PAWAR
- Paediatric sixth nerve palsy
Dr. Anita presenting at Keracon

DR. R.KIM
- Private Service Delivery Models of Diabetes and DR care in
India, and How to Make Them Sustainable
+ '  ' Q`&
DR. USHA KIM
- Analysis of Clinicopathologic Correlation in Ocular Surface
Squamous Neoplasms (as chair)
- A novel approach for optic nerve sheath decompression and its
outcome: our experiences
DR. AMIT. A.KHEKEDAR
- Smart phone based applications for early stage detection of
retinoblastoma-review of methodology (free paper)
DR. NAMRATA GAIKWAD
- Correlation of clinical outcome with genetics of RB1 gene in
Indian retinoblastoma patients
DR. LALITHA PRAJNA
- Molecular diagnosis of bacterial and fungal corneal ulcers
(Symposium)
- Infectious keratitis, risk factors and epidemiology (Instruction
course)

Tuck Global Leadership 2030 Consortium

Chennai, January 21

Dr. Aravind Srinivasan gave a talk on Frugal Innovation

in the module on Engaging with Emerging Markets
at the Global Leadership 2030 Consortium organised

Dr. Namrata Gaikwad and Dr. Amit A. Khekedar presenting at WOC

53

Articles Published in Peer-reviewed

Journals
Uddaraju M, Mascarenhas J, Das MR, Radhakrishnan
N, Keenan JD, Prajna L, et al.

Corneal cross-linking as an adjuvant therapy in the management

of recalcitrant deep stromal fungal keratitis: a randomised trial.
Am J Ophthalmol. 2015 Jul;160(1):131-134.
Ganesh-Babu BS, Hariharan L, Thulasiraj RD,
Ravindran RD, Kempen JH.

Demand for Tertiary Eye Care Services in Developing Countries.

Am J Ophthalmol. 2015 Oct;160(4):619-627.e1.

Dr. M. Srinivasan and Dr. P. Vijayalakshmi at the

Ophthalmological Society of Banladesh Annual Conference

Rose-Nussbaumer J, Lietman TM, Shiboski CH,

Shiboski SC, Bunya VY, Akpek EK, et al.

by Tuck Executive Education at Hotel Leela Palace,

Chennai.

Inter-grader Agreement of the Ocular Staining Score in the

Sjgrens International Clinical Collaborative Alliance (SICCA)
registry.

United Kindom Paediatric Glaucoma Society

Am J Ophthalmol. 2015 Dec;160(6):1150-1153.e3

! 
} ]

Dr. Manju was invited to present on the topic

-Microspherophakia. It was an in depth discussion on
the subeject and was presided by Prof. Sir Pheng Tee
Khaw. She also observed Dr. Maria Papadopoulos for a
week to get exposure on Childhood Glaucoma.

71st Annual Conference of the Association of Physicians

of India (APICON)

Do AT, Pillai MR, Balakrishnan V, Chang RT, Robin AL,

Singh K, et al.

Effectiveness of glaucoma counseling on rates of follow-up and

glaucoma knowledge in a South Indian population.
Am J Ophthalmol. 2015 Dec 15. [Epub]
Namrata G, Vanniarajan A, Akram H, Jeyaram I,
Thirumalairaj K, Santhi R, et al.

Knudsons hypothesis revisited in Indian retinoblastoma patients.

Hyderabad, January 29

Asia-Pac J Clin Oncol. 2015 Dec;11(4):299-307.

Dr. P. Namperumalsamy was panelist in the session on

High quality cost effective health care: Indian model.

Ramkrishanan R, Mitra A, Kader MA.

43rd Annual Conference of Ophthalmological Society of

Bangladesh

Asia Pac J Ophthalmol (Phila). 2015 Sep-Oct;4(5):250-8.

Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 14-19

DR. M. SRINIVASAN
- Conjunctivo chalasis
- Moorens ulcer
- Microsporidial Ocular infections
DR. P. VIJAYALAKSHMI
- Childhood blindness - Beyond Statistics
- An act of prescribing spectacles to children
- Heavy eye Syndrome
- Management of Paralytic squint
- Prevention of Blindness due to ROP

^ z  !Q!"/

" 
2016
Taiwan, March 24-27, 2016

DR. ANAND RAJENDRAN

+     
 ^
 
 ' 
Limiting Membrane Removal in Epiretinal Membrane Peeling
54

Surgical and Visual Outcomes of Childhood Glaucoma at a

Tertiary Eye Care Center in South India.
Ramakrishnan S, Baskaran P, Talwar B, Venkatesh R.

Prospective, Randomized Study Comparing the Effect of 0.1%

Nepafenac and 0.4% Ketorolac Tromethamine on Macular
Thickness in Cataract Surgery Patients With Low Risk for
Cystoid Macular Edema.
Asia Pac J Ophthalmol (Phila). 2015 Aug; 4(4):
21620.
Ganesh Babu TR, Shenbaga Devi S, Venkatesh R.

Optic nerve head segmentation using fundus images and optical

coherence tomography images for glaucoma detection.
Biomed Pap Med Fac Univ Palacky Olomouc Czech
Repub. 2015 Oct 23. [Epub]
Devarajan B, Prakash L, Kannan TR, Abraham AA, Usha
Kim, Muthukkaruppan V, et al.

Targeted next generation sequencing of RB1 gene for the molecular

diagnosis of Retinoblastoma.
BMC Cancer. 2015;15(1):320.

Sengupta S, Nguyen AM, van Landingham SW, Solomon

SD, Do DV, Ferrucci L, et al.

Venkatesh R, van Landingham, Suzanne W, Khodifad

AM, Haripriya A, Thiel CL, Ramulu P, Robin AL.

Evaluation of real-world mobility in age-related macular

degeneration.

Carbon footprint and cost-effectiveness of cataract surgery.

BMC Ophthalmol. 2015 Jan;15:1-11.

Rose-Nussbaumer J, Prajna NV, Tiruvengada Krishnan,
Jeena M, Revathi R, Srinivasan M, et al.

Risk factors for low vision related functioning in the Mycotic

Ulcer Treatment Trial: a randomised trial comparing natamycin
with voriconazole.
Br J Ophthalmol. 2015 Nov. [Epub]

Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2015 Nov. [Epub]

Muthu Selvam R, Nithya R, Narmatha Devi P, Bhuvana
Shree RS, Valar Nila M, Demonte NL, et al.

Data set for the mass spectrometry based exoproteome analysis of

{  #
Data Brief. 2015 Mar;2:42-7.
Burdon KP, Fogarty RD, Shen W, Abhary S, Kaidonis G,
Appukuttan B, et al.

Clinical and microbiological study of paediatric infectious

keratitis in South India: a 3-year study (2011-2013).

Genome-wide association study for sight-threatening diabetic

retinopathy reveals association with genetic variation near the
GRB2 gene.

Br J Ophthalmol. 2016 Feb 25. [Epub]

Diabetologia. 2015 Oct;58(10):2288-97.

Singh J, Singh R.

Arya LK, Rathinam SR, Lalitha P, Usha Kim, Ghatani S,

Tandon V.

Aruljyothi L, Radhakrishnan N, Prajna VN, Lalitha P.

Submacular Parasite Masquerading as Posterior Pole

Granuloma.
Case Rep Ophthalmol Med. 2015;2015:910383.
Harshey KB, Karthik S, Ramakrishnan R, Kim R.

Unilateral Crystalline Vitreoretinopathy: a rare entry associated

   {  #
Case Rep Ophthalmol Med. 2015;2015:460564.
Upadhyay MP, Srinivasan M, Whitcher JP.

Diagnosing and managing microbial keratitis.

Community Eye Health. 2015;28(89):3-6.
Mathews S, Chidambaram JD, Lanjewar S, Mascarenhas
J, Prajna NV, Muthukkaruppan V, et al.

Trematode Fluke Procerovum varium as Cause of Ocular

'{   & ' #
Emerg Infect Dis. 2016 Feb;22(2):192-200.
Shah PK, Narendran V, Kalpana N.

&
 
 
   |+ +
sparing vitrectomy for vascularly active stage 4 retinopathy of
prematurity.
Eye (Lond). 2015 Aug;29(8):1046-50.
Kavitha S, Patel SR, Mohini P, Venkatesh R, Sengupta S.

Vitiligo iridis and glaucoma: a rare sequelae of small pox.

Eye (Lond). 2015 Oct;29(10):1392-4.

In vivo confocal microscopic analysis of normal human anterior

limbal stroma.

Li Z, Allingham RR, Nakano M, Jia L, Chen Y, Ikeda Y,

et al.

Cornea. 2015 Apr;34(4):46470.

A common variant near TGFBR3 is associated with primary open

angle glaucoma.

Priya CG, Saumi M, Arunkumar PK, Mascarenhas J,

Prajna NV, Muthukkaruppan V.

Hum Mol Genet. 2015 Jul 1;24(13):3880-92.

In vivo Confocal Microscopic Analysis of Limbal Stroma in

X  > &$#

Sengupta S, Dhanapal P, Nath M, Haripriya A,

Venkatesh R.

Cornea. 2015 Nov;34(11):1478-86.

Goats eye integrated with a human cataractous lens: A training


  #

Rathi H, Venugopal A, Rameshkumar G, Ramakrishnan

R, Meenakshi R.

Indian J Ophthalmol. 2015 Mar;63(3):275-7

Fungal Keratitis caused by Exserohilum, an Emerging Pathogen.

Radhakrishnan M, Venkatesh R, Valaguru V, Frick KD.

Cornea. 2016 Feb 9. [Epub]

^  
 {  
to undergo cataract surgery.

Dubey SK, Hejtmancik JF, Krishnadas SR, Sharmila R,

Haripriya A, Sundaresan P.

Evaluation of Genetic Polymorphisms in Clusterin and Tumor

Necrosis Factor-Alpha Genes in South Indian Individuals with
Pseudoexfoliation Syndrome.
Curr Eye Res. 2015;40(12):1218-24.

Indian J Ophthalmol. 2015 Jul;63(7):594-9.

Senthilkumari S, Neethu M, Santhi R, Krishnadas R,
Muthukkaruppan VR.

' 
     ' 
donor eyes without clinical history.
Indian J Ophthalmol. 2015 Jul;63(7):600-5.

55

Bhandari S, Sengupta S, Yadalla D, Rajagopalan J, Velis

GB, Talele D, Kushwaha S.

Zegans ME, DiGiandomenico A, Ray K, Naimie A, Keller

AE, Stover CK, et al.

Factors affecting treatment outcome in congenital nasolacrimal

duct obstruction: A retrospective analysis from South India.

 
? X^<  
Expression, and Clinical Outcomes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Keratitis: Analysis of Isolates in the Steroids for Corneal Ulcers
Trial.

Indian J Ophthalmol. 2015 Nov;63(11):759-762.

Neelam P, Meenakshi R, Ramakrishnan R, Devendra M,
Trivedi B.

Unilateral acquired Browns syndrome in systemic scleroderma:

An unusual cause for diploma.
Indian J Ophthalmol. 2015 Nov; 63(11): 861863.
Sindal MD, Mourya D.

JAMA Ophthalmol. 2016 Feb 4.

Sindal MD, Nakhwa CP, Sengupta S.

 
 +< 
intraocular lenses.
J Cataract Refract Surg 2016; 42:2734.

A rare case of traumatic posterior phacocele with retinal

detachment.

Palanisamy M, Venkatapathy N, Rajendran V, Shobana

CS.

Indian J Ophthalmol. 2016 Jan;64(1):89-90.

Keratomycosis caused by Graphium eumorphum (Graphium State

of Scedosporium apiospermum).

Manayath GJ, Arora S, Parikh H, Shah PK, Tiwari S,

Narendran V.

Is myopia a protective factor against central serous

chorioretinopathy?
Int J Ophthalmol. 2016 Feb 18;9(2):266-70.
Shirish Dongare, Sharmila Rajendran, S Senthilkumari,
Suresh K Gupta, Rajani Mathur, Rohit Saxena, Sushma
Srivastava.

J Clin Diagn Res. 2015 Apr;9(4):DD03-4.

Ramakrishnan R, Mitra A, Abdul Kader M, Das S.

& ^
 
> X  '  
Treatment of Eyes with Primary Angle Closure and Plateau Iris
Syndrome, Unresponsive to Laser Peripheral Iridotomy, Using
Anterior-Segment OCT as a Tool.
J Glaucoma. 2015 Sep 14. [Epub]

Genistein Alleviates High Glucose Induced Toxicity and

Angiogenesis in Cultured Human RPE Cells.

Chakrabarty L, Joshi GD, Chakravarty A, Raman GV,

Krishnadas SR, Sivaswamy J.

Int J Pharm Pharm Sci. 2015;Aug:7(8):294-298.

Automated Detection of Glaucoma from Topographic Features of

the Optic Nerve Head in Color Fundus Photographs.

Boomiraj H, Mohankumar V, Lalitha P, Devarajan B.

@  /!^<X 

Keratitis.
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2015 Dec 1;56(13):79397946.
Karthikeyan AS, Vijayalakshmi P.

J Glaucoma. 2015 Nov. [Epub]

Munavalli JR, Rao SV, Aravind S, Srinivas A, Merode
FV.

= {/  `=  #

J Health Management. 2016 Mar;18(1):21-30.

A new surgical noose technique for excision of pediatric ocular

adnexal and anterior orbital cysts.

Thirumalairaj K, Abraham A, Devarajan B, Gaikwad N,

Kim U, Muthukkaruppan V, et al.

J AAPOS. 2015 Aug;19(4):372-5.

A stepwise strategy for rapid and cost-effective RB1 screening in

Indian retinoblastoma patients.

Trivedi BP, Meenakshi R, Neelam P, Ramakrishnan

R, Shelke V.

J Hum Genet. 2015 Sep;60(9):547-52.

'      #

Shah VM, Prabhu V.

J AAPOS. 2015 Oct;19(5):486-7.

A Rare Case of Glomus Jugulare Tumor Presenting as

Papilledema.

Prajna NV, Prajna L, OBrien KS, Sun CQ, Acharya N,

Lietman TM, et al.

Association of Pretreatment with Antifungal Medication and

Fungal Resistance in the Mycotic Ulcer Treatment Trial I.
JAMA Ophthalmol. 2015 Oct;133(10):1210-1.
Mahmud I, Kelley T, Stowell C, Haripriya A, Boman A,
Kossler I, et al.

A Proposed Minimum Standard Set of Outcome Measures for

Cataract Surgery.
JAMA Ophthalmol. 2015 Nov;133(11):1247-52.

J Neuroophthalmol. 2015 Jul 28. [Epub]

Naresh BK, Adenuga OO, Rajan RP, Kim R.

Management of Ocular Siderosis: Visual Outcome and

Electroretinographic Changes.
J Ophthalmol. Volume 2016 (2016).
Jayanthi S, Krishnadas SR, Chakravarty A, Joshi GD,
Ujjwal, Syed TA.

A Comprehensive Retinal Image Dataset for the Assessment of

Glaucoma from the Optic Nerve Head Analysis.
JSM Biomed Imaging Data Pap. 2015;2(1):1004.

56

Congdon N, Suburaman GB, Ravilla T, Varga B,

Resnikoff S, McLeod J, et al.

Haripriya A, Chang DF, Namburar S, Smita A,

Ravindran RD.

Transforming research results into useful tools for global health:

BOOST.

^
 
'   /<{< ^  
Prophylaxis at Aravind Eye Hospital.

Lancet Glob Health. 2016 Feb;4(2):e96.

Ophthalmology. 2015 Oct. [Epub]

Preethi P, Muraleedharan VR, Kamalnabhan TJ,

Thulasiraj RD.

Bains S, Vidhya N, Kim U, Shanti R, Devanand J.

Healthcare human resource for ensuring patient focused care.

Subcutaneous Dissemination from an Orbital Diffuse Large B Cell

Lymphoma.

Management Health. 2015;19(3):20-25.

Orbit. 2015 Dec;34(6):338-9.

Hassan AS, Al-Hatmi AM, Shobana CS, Van

Diepeningen AD, Kredics L, Vgvlgyi C, et al.

Homa M, Fekete IP, Bszrmnyi A, Singh YR, Selvam

KP, Shobana CS, et al.

Antifungal Susceptibility and Phylogeny of Opportunistic

Members of the Genus Fusarium Causing Human Keratomycosis
in South India.

Antifungal Effect of Essential Oils against Fusarium Keratitis

Isolates.

Med Mycol. 2015 Dec 24. [Epub]

Das T, Raman R, Kim R, Rani PK.

Telemedicine in diabetic retinopathy: current status and future

directions.
Middle East Afr J Ophthalmol. 2015 Jun;22(2):1748.

Planta Med. 2015 Jul 30. [Epub]

Usha Kim R, Wadwekar B, Prajna L.

Primary canaliculitis: The incidence, clinical features, outcome

and long-term epiphora after snip-punctoplasty and curettage.
Saudi J Ophthalmol. 2015 Oct-Dec;29(4):274-277.

Nakhwa CP, Sindal MD.

Di Y, Huang L, Sundaresan P, Li S, Kim R, Ballav Saikia

B, et al.

Idiopathic Macular telangiectasia type 1 with ruptured retinal

arterial macroaneurysm post intravitreal bevacizumab.

+<&Q '/  

EYS Gene in Retinitis Pigmentosa in the Indian Population.

Middle East Afr J Ophthalmol. 2015 Jul-Sep;22(3):396-8.

Sci Rep. 2016 Jan 20;6:19432.

Kredics L, Narendran V, Shobana CS, Vgvlgyi C,

Manikandan P, et al.

Beligere N, Perumalswamy V, Tandon M, Mittal A,

Floora J, Vijayakumar B, et al.

Filamentous fungal infections of the cornea: a global overview of

epidemiology and drug sensitivity.

Retinopathy of prematurity and neurodevelopmental disabilities

in premature infants.

Mycoses. 2015 Apr;58(4):24360.

Semin Fetal Neonatal Med. 2015 Oct;20(5):346-53.

Krizsn K, Tth E, Nagy LG, Galgczy L, Manikandan

P, Chandrasekaran M, et al.

Shah PK, Prabhu V, Karandikar SS, Ranjan R,

Narendran V, Kalpana N.

/    

 

Curvularia australiensis, C. hawaiiensis and C. spicifera isolated
from human eye infections.

Retinopathy of prematurity: Past, present and future.

Mycoses. 2015 Oct;58(10):603-9.

Sindal MD, Nakhwa CP.

Metastatic Serratia endophthalmitis associated with

extravasation injury in a preterm neonate.
Oman J Ophthalmol. 2015;8:114-6.
Newman-Casey PA, Sathya R, Haripriya A, Vinoth P,
Manju Pillai, Vijayakumar B, et al.

The effect of counseling on cataract patient knowledge, decisional

{  
#

World J Clin Pediatr. 2016 Feb 8;5(1):35-46.

Sharma RS, Parag K Shah, Narendran V.

X 
{<
tomography-computed tomography scan for intraocular choroidal
melanoma in Asian Indian Eyes.
World J Nucl Med. 2016;Jan;15(1):53-55.
Shrime MG, Sleemi A, Thulasiraj RD.

Charitable Platforms in Global Surgery: a systematic review

of their effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, sustainability, and role
training.
World J Surg. 2015 Jan;39(1):10-20.

Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 2015 Dec;22(6):387-93.

Shah PK, Sripriya S, Narendran V, Pandian AJ.

Prenatal genetic diagnosis of retinoblastoma and report of RB1

gene mutation from India.
Ophthalmic Genet. 2016 Feb 25:1-4. [Epub]

57

Consultancy and Capacity Building

For over two decades, LAICO has been working in a comprehensive manner
on individuals involved in eye care, eye hospitals, agencies supporting eye care
and policy makers in the Government. A lot of progress had been made over
  $ 
" "

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consultancy and capacity building, management training in eye care, research,
offering IT based products and services as well as being of service to INGOs and
Governments.
On February 21, 2016 an ideating workshop was held at LAICO,
facilitated by Mr. D.Nagarajan to develop clarity on what needs to change and

' 
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  "
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/Q " !

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develop an action plan to operationalise it.


'

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project mode. In recent years, LAICO has started raising



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@
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ophthalmologist and a management expert visits


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operational model, governance and service area. The






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planning workshop at LAICO. Ongoing mentoring and

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visits as well as emails and phone calls.
In the year ending March 2016, nine new hospitals
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hospitals in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Five
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LAICO team with the participants of Hilton Cataract Initiative onsite workshop at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

59

Vision Building Workshop for the teams from Telengana,

Rajasthan and Colombo: With Dr. Datta at Aravind-Theni

Dr. Preethika Gandhi with trainees at AIPU Eye Hospital, China


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Dr. Shivakumar Chandrasekhar at Ispahani Islamia Eye Institute,

Dhaka, Bangladesh

60

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Prof. Jagdeep Chokker at the Workshop on Managing Network of Eye Care Facilities
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Training
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MANAGEMENT COURSES
Management Priorities in Eye Care Delivery (1 week)
Management Training and Systems Development for
Hospital Administrators / Managers (4 weeks)
Project Management training for Eye Care (4 weeks)
Eyexcel - Expanding Global Eye Care Workforce
through Excellence in Training (4 Days)
Research Methodology (5 Days)
Medical Records Management
Management Training for Eye Care Programme Managers
Community Outreach and Social Marketing of Eye Care
Services (4 weeks)
Instrument Maintenance - for Technicians (6 weeks)

An Exhibition on Aravind Model for the Eyexcel participants

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Mr. Meenakshi Sundaram and Ms. Ushalini with the trainees in

Lao Peoples Democratic Republic


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Low Vision Screening, Treatment and Service

Provision for Children in Coimbatore, supported by
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vision which will also provide early intervention and
DR project
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64

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USAID Vision Screening Project in Children in the

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XOVA Project: School teachers receiving training to identify common paediatric eye diseases and their symptoms among school children
at Aravind -Pondicherry

65

USAID ROP Project: Dr. P. Vijayalakshmi interacting with

doctors on ROP awareness at Theni Government Medical College
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the problem of visual impairment and blindness among children

66

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Universal Eye care and Comprehensive Eye Care

for a Million people: Using Technology and Vision
Centres as the Foundation - Building a Scalable
Model in Tamil Nadu, India.
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Health Services Research

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LAICO in Seva - Canada Board
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67

Ms.Sashi with some of the Seva Canada Board members and staff

Mr. Sanil Joseph and Ms. Leslie Louie with senior professors at the
School of Optometry, University of Berkeley, California, USA

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At the Seva-Canada AGM - Felicitating women in leadership roles

in eye care- Ms. Sashipriya with Fortunate Shija from KCCO and
Parami from Seva-Nepal

Mr. R.D.Thulasiraj at the stakeholders meeting of the Africa Eye

Foundation-Cameroon Eye Hospital Project

Exposure Visit

68

Dr. R. D. Ravindran and Dr. Bruce Spivey signing the MoU to

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Mr. R. D. Thulasiraj at the headquarters of Conrad N. Hilton

Foundation

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Phnom Penh

Dr. S. Aravind at Wavelength - On Your Marks

69

Research

Research programmes at Aravind Medical Research Foundation continue to

explore the fundamental mechanisms of eye diseases that are of importance
to the country. Therapeutic interventions are also being attempted wherever
possible. Keeping pace with modern developments in science is imperative since
AMRF is involved in teaching as well as research. Therefore, inducting new
experts is a continuing effort here. A new faculty with expertise in microbial
systems and cancer biology was recruited.

Research programmes at AMRF continue to focus on




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eye diseases which cause a lot of burden to India and
other similar developing countries. In tandem, many
clinical trials, especially in relevant, but orphan diseases
go hand in hand. A strong Ph.D programme with close
collaborations with clinicians and basic researchers
continues to provide an active academic environment
to the entire institute. Creating new departments
with investigators in different expertise has also been
carried out in addition to strengthening the existing
departments. With generous support from wellwishers, developments were made on the infrastructure
front and new equipment were added to the existing
facilities.

Proteomics of Ocular Diseases

Understanding the mechanisms underlying eye diseases
including fungal keratitis, diabetic retinopathy (DR)
and glaucoma is the major focus of this department.
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using proteomics. Well-equipped proteomics facility
with two state-of-the-art mass spectrometers helps in
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relevant to these diseases. Key events triggered in the
patients during fungal infection are innate immunity
controlled by complement cascade and neutrophil
mediated antifungal response. These are found in the
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for the severity of the host response in these patients


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biomarkers that can help in identifying the subgroup
among diabetes who are at a higher risk of developing
retinal complications. Validation of these proteins
using a larger sample size across the different stages
of the disease is currently underway. In addition to
the proteome wide changes, the department is also
analysing changes in the microRNA levels in different
stages of DR. Over the last year, it has established
collaboration with Institute Pasteur to compare the
pathogenesis of A.fumigatus, a pulmonary pathogen and
#{ , a corneal pathogen.

Molecular Genetics
Presently, the department is working on molecular
genetics of common eye diseases like cataract, diabetic
retinopathy, glaucoma, corneal and retinal dystrophies.
/
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diagnosis and genetic counselling in retinoblastoma.
The department has given priority to study genetics
of Primary Angle Closure Glaucoma (PACG). It is
genetically heterogeneous disorder with complex
genetic basis affecting many individuals within a family.
/
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The department also contributed to this study in
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which in earlier studies, has been associated with IOP
and Central Corneal Thickness (CCT) in Primary
Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG) subjects. In addition,
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gene for Macular Corneal Dystrophy (MCD) and
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risk of retinoblastoma in next child in two families
was predicted through the analysis of the patient and
their family samples. In twelve patients, the changes
were detected in their blood samples but not in their
parents inferring that these changes occurred during
their development, which may be passed on to the next
generation. The analysis of tumor could tell about the
mutations in seven patients, which will not be inherited
to their sibling or next generation.

Genetics of Retinoblastoma

Stem Cell Biology

Retinoblastoma is the intraocular tumor of children,

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changes can be either a single base change or deletion
of whole gene ultimately affecting the function of the
retinoblastoma protein which controls the cell division.
The alterations in the gene can be either inherited from
parents or occur during the development of eyes in
children. When it is inherited, it is usually detected
in all the cells including the blood cells and there is
high chance that the next child of parents or their
grandchildren may also be affected. If the change is
detected only in the tumor, it is less likely that it will be
inherited.
The department has developed a cost effective

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throughput sequencing instrument - Illumina Miseq has
been installed in to quicken the process and to analyse
the other genetic factors involved in retinoblastoma.
In addition, the department is also studying the

The main focus of research is to understand the basic

biology of limbal epithelial stem cells, responsible for
the maintenance of corneal epithelial homeostasis.
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cytoplasmic ratio) to identify and quantify these stem
cells using confocal microscopy. Further, a two-step
protocol to enrich the limbal epithelial stem cells to
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with high nucleo-cytoplasmic ratio by laser capture
micro dissection) was developed.


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understand the molecular signaling pathways associated
with the maintenance of stemness, next generation
sequencing of the enriched stem cells was carried
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(differentiated cells). Further analysis of these highly

72

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sequential changes in the limbal architecture in different


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Ocular Pharmacology

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expressed genes and their signaling pathways are being
 
of stemness. In parallel, studies are now being carried
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gene expression. These studies will aid in developing
better methods for the limbal stem cell expansion and
maintenance, particularly for treating patients with
}/&~ }/&~{
Under translational research, a non-invasive method
for assessing the limbal epithelial as well as the
stromal microarchitecture in healthy individuals was
established earlier using In Vivo Confocal Microscopy
(IVCM). In continuation, the nature of the limbal

}/&~'



this year to assess the severity of damage due to the
injury. IVCM analysis revealed that in addition to loss
of limbal epithelial architecture, the stromal niche




 
Further studies are being carried out to characterise the

  
    

The main research focus of the ocular pharmacology

department is to understand the pathogenic
mechanisms and to identify a better therapeutic
strategy for age-related eye diseases such as Age Related
Macular Degeneration (ARMD) and glaucoma.
The age-related macular degeneration project aims
to investigate the importance of dietary macular
carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin and metabolite mesozeaxanthin) and its protective role in preserving vision
with age and also in macular degeneration. Dietary
carotenoids and metabolite mesozeaxanthin constitute
the Macular Pigment (MP) in the retina and can be


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Density (MPOD) in healthy individuals and patients
with AMD will help in identifying individuals at
reduced, medium and elevated risk of developing agerelated macular degeneration based on high, medium
and low central MPOD levels respectively and their
genetic predictors in Indian population. The present


 
MPOD is positively associated with plasma carotenoids
and inversely associated with total cholesterol and
triglycerides, adding further evidence that additional
} 

of AMD in our population. The recruitment of AMD
patients is in progress to investigate the association of
MPOD, plasma carotenoids and AMD disease condition.
In glaucoma project, the department aims to focus on
the role of Rho A-ROCK signalling in the pathogenesis
and to identify the potential clinical candidates for the
management of the disease using ex vivo human organ
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clinical candidate for the management of glaucoma
therapy. In addition, we are investigating the effect of
cyclic mechanical stress on the Rho A-ROCk signalling
in altering the contractility of intact trabecular

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also the role of Rho Kinase inhibitors in reducing such
resistance generated by cyclic IOP.

73

migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) as a candidate for

further clinical use.

Ocular Microbiology

  


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Bioinformatics
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based servers and desktop workstations, which
could be used by other researcher as well. It is to
customise data analysis tailored to the needs of
individual research projects across all the research
groups. Recently, automated pipeline developed for
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hotspots. The pipeline with heuristic approach was
applied to detect pathogenic variants from in-house
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a comprehensive benchmarking study on human
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algorithms suggested that single nucleotide variants
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for genetic eye disorders.
A bioinformatics approach was applied to identify
differentially expressed miRNAs and their targets from
fungal infected corneas compared to normal cadaver
through small-RNA deep-sequencing method. A total
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suggested a possible potential target viz Macrophage

74

The department focuses on the cellular and molecular

basis of ocular infectious diseases, with a special
'

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approaches to study host pathogen interactions involve
in vitro cell culture models, ex vivo analysis of ocular


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an important host defense mechanism to limit bacterial
load. Induction or inhibition of the autophagic process
resulted in variable intracellular bacterial load which
may have a therapeutic value in X#  keratitis.
The results are being validated in vivo with a mice
model.
Drug tolerance mechanisms may prevent complete
eradication of bacteria from the ocular tissues despite an
effective antibiotic treatment. Work on the intracellular
bacterial survival and drug tolerance mechanisms may
help select appropriate therapy for keratitis patients.
To better understand the virulence and antibiotic
resistance mechanisms, whole genome sequencing of
ocular X   and methicillin-resistant
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Ongoing Basic Research

- Pathogenic  interaction with Innate
Immune cells
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with the maintenance of stemness
- Analysis of bacterial persistence mechanisms in
recalcitrant ocular X   infections
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Indian Retinoblastoma patients
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#{  infections in India an integrative approach
- Proteomics and peptidomics of human infectious
diseases and biomarker discovery
- Mitoscriptome analysis to understand the
pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy using tissue
microarray
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and anterior chamber granulomatous uveitis in
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ocular cancer (retinoblastoma) in Aravind Medical
Research Foundation
- Predictive biomarkers for diabetic retinopathy among



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- Indian Macular Carotenoids Research
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- Genetic screening in a large family with Primary
Open Angle Glaucoma
- Functional analysis of circulating microRNAs and
their regulatory role in Diabetic Retinopathy

Major Workshops / Events

World Immunology Day
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a purpose to establish a community of immunologists
dedicated to improve the health of people around the
world. Under the initiative of Indian Immunology
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celebrated in AMRF. A seminar on Immunology Today


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Prof. VR. Muthukkaruppan, Advisor - Research, AMRF;
Prof. K. Dharmalingam, Director - Research, AMRF; and
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Aravind-Madurai.

5th Annual conference of the Society for

Mitochondrial Research and Medicine (SMRM)
Aravind Medical Research Foundation hosted the

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Dignitaries who shared their views included
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Dr. K, Dharmalingam, Director - Research, and
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conference proceedings and annual report of AMRF

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75

MD Microbiology postgraduate students and people

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Workshop on Experimental Approaches to

Proteomics

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basic scientists, clinicians and young researchers to
discuss recent advances in mitochondrial biology,
diagnosis and treatment of mitochondrial diseases.
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International invited faculties attended the meeting.

Workshop on Mycology and Ocular Microbiology

X_#~
@ 
'

knowledge about handling and processing of ocular
specimens and interpretation of cultures through
informative lectures and hands-on training in basic
mycology and molecular biological techniques. A total
8''

' 

X  
 / = /

76

!]
The main objective of the workshop was to provide the
participants a comprehensive hands-on training on the
bottom-up proteomics approaches. There were twentytwo participants, both research scholars and faculty
who were from different universities and institutes. The
four-day workshop was designed to cover four modules
on the basics as well as experiments done routinely
in the mass spectrometry based proteomics studies.
The participants were given hands-on training in the
experiments such as protein quantitation, different
methods of sample preparation and clean-up of samples
for mass spectrometry analysis. Participants were

'

!/ 
 

^'


Proteome Discoverer and Pinpoint softwares. The
workshop also included invited lectures by
Z|''\
 [ 
~[
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and Dr. Mahesh Kulkarni from National Chemical
} Z

/#   X

##/   ^ 

/#>    

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Prof . VR. Muthukkaruppan Endowment Award

Illumina Miseq

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 /+

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+]#_
X'_'
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Illumina Miseq, is a high end next generation

sequencing facility used for genetic testing of
retinoblastoma and other ocular genetic disorders.
 


microorganisms involved in infectious ocular diseases
and elucidating the resistance mechanism in multidrug
resistant bacteria are quite possible with this bench top
sequencer.

Ph.D Thesis Defended




!/
[~ 
!}[ !
<
Ms. Prasanthi Namburi have successfully defended their
Ph.D thesis.

Newly Added Research Facilities

This year two equipments were purchased with funding

''= \/

Macular Pigment Screener (MPS) II

!Z/=@ \[{
^
equipment used to assess the macular health of an
individual in terms of Macular Pigment Optical Density
(MPOD). This equipment will help to study the role
of carotenoids in preserving vision with age and in the
progression of age-related macular degeneration.

/#   /#X    /#&  $

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77

Ongoing Clinical Research

Retina
- A randomised, controlled study evaluating the
 
+'
with laser therapy for the treatment of infants
born prematurely with retinopathy of prematurity
(Rainbow study)
 8] '
 
 
 
multicentre, active-controlled study to evaluate the
 



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' Z~@
patients with visual impairment due to choroidal
neovascularaization secondary to pathologic myopia
|{
- A prospective, comparative, assessor blind,

 '
_
'

 

biopharmaceuticals ltd. in comparison with lucentis
of novartis in patients of wet ARMD (Age Related
Macular Degeneration).
- A prospective, randomised parallel group, double
 
'  

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+
}
'


related macular degeneration
- Retinopathy of Prematurity -Difference between
the presentation of Government NICUs and private
hospital NICUs
- A study to assess the effectiveness of a Computer
Assisted Diagnosis (CAD) programme in identifying
the presence of Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) and
~!=~!={'


diabetes.
- Indian Macular Carotenoids Research (IND
!&+={


 & 
electroretinography
 &'
}!'^
over standard technique in large macular holes
 = `'{


Z/&}
Green for panretinal photocoagulation in high risk
proliferative diabetic retinopathy

IOL and Cataract

- The natural history of intraocular lens in eyes with
exfoliation syndrome

78

- Identifying risk factors for complications of cataract

surgery
 =
'

/_8'@{



 ='

'

polar cataract on the surgical and visual outcome
'
 
- Comparison of Centurion vision system with
' 



the Mini Flared Kelman (MFK) tip during cataract
extraction surgery of hard lenses
 = !""
'
''"
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 ="
A comparative study
 ='''
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intumescent cataracts
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'@
Y}'
- A prospective, non-randomised, single arm, open

 
ocular lenses in patients having cataract in both eyes
- Cataract surgery in Indian patients with or without
}/"

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 +/


Cornea
- Parasitic Ulcer Treatment Trial (PUTT)
- Mycotic Ulcer Treatment Trial (MUTT)
 = ]%
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preventing graft rejection
- To compare intrastromal vs. topical voriconazole
in fungal keratitis refractory to topical natamycin
therapy
- Management of recurrent pterygia using
Z"{

Glaucoma
 &'


' ~


'
'

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- A prospective, randomised comparative study of
 

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!!&</!!&

'

patients.

- A randomised, multicentre, prospective, parallel

group, double blind, three arm comparative study to
' 
8%
'

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subjects with Chronic Open Angle Glaucoma or
ocular hypertension
 
  

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#%<
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#%

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glaucoma.
- International pilot survey of childhood glaucoma
Z/Y&>{
- Central macular thickness and its relation
to axial length and intraocular pressure after
phacotrabeculectomy
- A prospective randomised comparative study

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8##'
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phacotrabeculectomy
- A cross sectional study on the factors associated
with optic disc hemorrhage in patients with primary
glaucoma in a tertiary care centre in south India.
 '
>




\/

- Identifying the social challenges of paediatric patients
and their caregivers in rural and urban environments.

Uvea
- First line antimetabolites as steroid- sparing
treatment
- A Phase III, multinational, multicentre, randomised,
double-masked, study assessing the safety and
 ?
~=8#
doses) for the treatment of active, non-Infectious
Uveitis of the posterior segment of the eye
- A Phase IIIb, multinational, multicentre, open-label
extension study assessing the long-term safety of
Z+X?
~=8#
?

with non-infectious uveitis of the posterior segment
''/[\+
development program.

Orbit, Oculoplasty and Ocular Oncology

  

retinoblastoma
 =



ocular cancer (retinoblastoma) in Aravind Medical
Research Foundation
 >
'

+|8

+|'
&!+
- A simple smartphone-based method for early
detection of retinoblastoma - a pilot study
- A prospective, non-randomised, single arm, open


 
Aurotube in conjunctivo dacryocystorhinostomy
- A prospective, non-randomised, single arm, open


 
lacrimal silicone intubation for the management of
epiphora

Operations Research
 &'
=&

&={
study in Theni district of Tamil Nadu
- Corneal Ulcer Prevention (CUP) through health
education - A prospective public health intervention
on promotion of eye health
- Validation of a low-cost, portable autorefractor
developed by PlenOptika-Aurolab
- Development and implementation of the short
X~<@
'/
population
- Validation of fundus image grading results by an
automated detection algorithm (CAD) with that by a
human grader

Clinical Trials
Aurolab
- A prospective, non-randomised, single arm, open
label study to evaluate the performance of Multifocal
Y}

!Y}{'

cataract in both eyes.
- A prospective clinical investigation of Conjuctivo
Dacryocystorhinostomy (CDCR) With Aurotube.

79

Manufacturing Ophthalmic Supplies

2016 is a landmark year for Aurolab as it steps into 25th year of service. What
began as just an intraocular lens manufacturing unit, over the years went on to
manufacture all essential ophthalmic supplies and equipment, thus contributing
to Aravinds mission of making quality eye care affordable to all. Aurolab later
     ## #    # "    
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"
products to over 146 countries.
With an altruistic perspective and stringent quality standards Aurolab elegantly
meets the challenge of manufacturing world class ophthalmic products and yet
making them affordable and available to all.

In the last year, Aurolab has also widened its

reach with the registration of its products in
22 more countries.
New Products
#* !
 X 
/
 
* X
Aurocoat is a high end viscoelastic with both cohesive
and dispersive properties. This unique combination
helps in maintaining the depth of the anterior chamber
throughout the surgery and provides better endothelial
protection. It is easy to remove and hence saves
time and avoids post surgical complications. This
product enhances the surgical outcomes, especially in
complicated cases.
Within 6 months of its launch, Aurocoat has received
good acceptance from ophthalmic surgeons and more
than 7000 units have been sold across India. Many top
surgeons have been appreciative of the product, price
and quality. With the introduction of this product, the
range of viscoelastics offered by Aurolab is complete
with Hydroxy Propyl Methyl Cellulose (HPMC),
Sodium Hylauronate and now Sodium hyaluronate +
Chondroitin Sulphate to meet the varied needs of an
ophthalmic surgeon.

z}~
 

 !
Introduced a year ago, Aurolabs Hawk I slit lamp
has received good acceptance in the market. Two
products - an Applanation Tonometer (made in Spain)
and an Integrated CCD camera system with image
storing facility - were introduced to enhance the use of
Aurolabs Hawk I slit lamp. A new variant of Hawk I slit
lamp with LED module, was also launched.

 '
''
of chair units. With the inclusion of this product to its

81

Slit lamp and digital vision chart, Aurolab can be a one

point supplier for Ophthalmic outpatient department
supplies.

IOLs
 
 '

(-5D to -1D) available in foldable IOLs on the popular
"'@=<Y}


also been increased to cover 5D to 9D and 31D to 35D.

digital vision chart and slit lamps. With this initiative,

Aurolabs ability to meet customer demands has been


 
Understanding the need for creating awareness about
latest trends in cataract surgery, Aurolab has initiated a
two-day training programme for ophthalmic community
including aspiring surgeons, refractionists, optometrists
and counsellors. The programme titled ACT- Advanced Cataract Training focuses on the promising

Surgical Blades
!<+8>]#>


added in Aurosleek range as there is an increased usage
of the above models for side port entry incision.

Suture Needles
Suture needles specially designed for Keratoplasty with

$#]X{ 
appreciated by top corneal surgeons in the country.

Marketing Activities
Training
With the increasing customer base for equipment, sales
staff were trained to service basic products such as
82

ACT - Advanced Cataract Training

protocols followed in Aravind Eye Hospitals for Toric

IOL implantation.
Four batches underwent training and implemented
protocols in their respective hospitals, achieving
excellent postoperative results.

Aurolab Continuing Medical Education



 
&!=

Z''
! >!&
X8]#~/ &&
Services, Aravind Eye Hospital, Tirunelveli was the
lead speaker of these CMEs. He shared the podium
~&
X Z
Z''

Academy of Ophthalmology and Medical Director of the
>/ !
Aurolab conducted a CME at The Eye Foundation,
|~+ Z
 Y/
~!/+ &!~ 
[X|~/
[ 
Medical Superintendent, The Eye Foundation
&~!
Director, Uma Eye Clinic, Chennai as speakers.
"@

[
State Ophthalmological Society and at the CME in
Chakrabarty Eye Care in Trivandrum.

Regulatory Activities
Z'Y} >/~{

&= 
Manufacturing license for IOL has been renewed for
the next 5 years. Pharma and Suture needle division
Y>!Z &
Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO),
>
Z

 \

 
"_
>!Z




X
~
&X~&{ 
X@
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countries.
Z 
'

Y}


safety guard for surgical blades.

   

Midyear sales review meets were conducted for

Aurolabs Area Development Managers at Delhi and
ZY8#8]8_
'
the region wise sales and to plan effectively for the
second half of the year.

A total of 93 production trainees completed the training

and were absorbed as staff at Aurolab.
Yoga classes were organised for different cadres of

' 


]#8
X
<


winning team was awarded with trophy.
Continuing technical education training programme
was arranged for production staff to update them on
new products, sterilisation procedures, importance
>!Z^



?
Aravinds efforts to raise resources to help Chennai







at Angaadi charity fest. Education funds were allotted

$#&       /^

Philippines

Navarathri celebrations at Aurolab

Midyear Sales Review

83

$#X#?    /  $

  

 
  
  

Traditions revived during Pongal celebrations

for children of staff members. A total of sixty children

 


>
 X ~
Pongal etc. were celebrated in the traditional way with
much enthusiasm.

''
]

and at the annual day celebrations held on January
]_ ~<
 &!Y  
Pondicherry was the chief guest.
On the occasion of International Womens Day, a
workshop was organised for the production staff to
train them in several arts and craft works using waste
materials, wires and clay pots. The items thus made
were kept on display.
A bird watching session was arranged in Aurofarm
!+~|
watchers. The team was surprised as they spotted 45
rare species of birds in the farm.

<




talks were organised to promote a healthy lifestyle
amongst the staff.

Aurolab staff locating birds at Aurofarm with Dr. Badrinath

84

Prominent Trade shows

''?

during the last year, where it promoted its products.
- Congress of American Society of Cataract and
+/
/&+/
- Annual Conference of European Society of Cataract
+/
=/&+/
- Annual Conference of the American Academy of
Ophthalmology - AAO
- World Ophthalmic Congress - WOC
- Annual Conference of All India Ophthalmic Society AIOS
'
 
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international conferences and various regional and state
level ophthalmic forums.
/#< /# X   /#    
=  [    /<

Central Functions
Human Resources Development
As much as the organisation places importance on
ensuring patient satisfaction, equal attention is given
to make sure that the interests of the employees are
maintained and taken care of. This became evident at
the recent employee survey conducted by Great Place
to Work Institute, India where more than 70% of the
''

'


part of Aravind.
For many who have been a part of the organisation in
the early years, it was nothing short of a homecoming

  

its kind in its four decade history. Roots, held during
October 17-18, provided an excellent opportunity for
alumni ophthalmologists to come together and share
their good old memories. Close to 100 alumni attended
'
 

As the organisation expands, it becomes imperative
to develop in people the mindset to drive and enable
growth, to bring in a collective ownership and to
understand potential challenges that need to be
addressed along the way. In January 2016, a planning
meeting was held at Aravind - Madurai to bring
everyone on board for the major expansion plans
that Aravind is undertaking. Managers, nursing
superintendents and staff of Personnel and HR

departments from all the centres of Aravind came

together for this day long discussion.
The annual HR Retreat held from January 19-20
analysed the departments performance. HR mission for

 
'
'

Employee Engagement Initiative

The year passed by can be considered as a period of
advocacy for employee engagement programme with the
major theme emerging out as communication. Projects
done by students from University of Michigan, series
of meetings and workshop on Insights into employee
engagement helped to develop understanding and
overall buy in of seniors from across the system. While
initiatives like Wanderers and quiz competitions
with social gatherings broke the silos between people,
ground level initiatives like revamping of meetings
helped in removing the operational bottlenecks. A
Facebook page named Humans of Aravind dedicated to
the people of the Aravind was launched. Fetzer project
has helped in writing down how Aravind is able to
practise compassion at a large scale and the values it


  ''?
will be shared with the world soon. With a strong base
established, key initiatives like mentorship, leadership
and professional development programme will see the
light in the coming year.

Roots 2016 participants with Dr. Venkatesh and Dr. Mohideen and senior MLOPs on a trek at Keelakuyilkudi

85

Glimpses of Auroutsav 2015

- the biennial arts-sports-literary competitions
It is a beautiful time, when each and every
Aravind employee competes from equal grounds.
A judge (the judges for all events are external)
for one of the events observed that he felt as
though he was visiting Gandhijis Phoenix farm in
South Africa where the dignity of human beings is
celebrated.
Aurolab

Aravind-Coimbatore

Aravind-Pondicherry

86

Aravind-Tirunelveli

Aravind-Theni

Aravind-Salem
Aravind-Madurai

87

University of Michigan students presenting the project they

worked on to the Aravind senior management team

Photo Exhibition by Wanderers

Employee Development Programmes

A Continuing Professional Education (CPE) programme

was organised for the staff of audiovisual and DTP
departments across the centres from November 2021 at Aravind - Madurai. A total of 15 participants
attended the training that focused on product/portrait
photography as well as the use of Illustrator software.
To standardise the accounting process across all
hospitals and to ensure error free, accurate and timely
reports to management, a CPE was arranged for the
accounting staff of Aravind Eye Care System on
March 12. The participants were also provided
exposure and training on the new initiatives planned for

]#88@ ''

Aravind facilities took part in the CPE.

With a view to equip the employees meet the growing

demands of work, training programmes are arranged
on a regular basis. Various sessions of continuing
medical education programmes were held for Mid Level
Y'Z
/


 
 
how the employees can keep themselves safe from
hospital infections as well as basic life support measures
in an emergency, are being held regularly.
Training programmes were conducted for staff of
optical sales, technicians and refractionists by Essilor
India Private to create awareness on various types of


 
+'


sessions for staff of Opticals department to discuss ways
to improve customer satisfaction.

HR personnel at the Annual Retreat at LAICO

88

Aravind Communications team with Mr. Mike Myers at the CPE

Programme

Dr. Ramakrishnan distributing prizes at the Programme for

Aravind Staff Support (PASS)

Employee Welfare Activities

Entertainment programmes and festival celebrations

were arranged on several occasions which provided
the staff the much-needed relief from an otherwise
mundane work schedule. Anniversaries of hospitals
were celebrated elaborately. Excursions were arranged
for different cadres of staff members.
Auroutsav, the biennial arts-sports-literary
competitions was celebrated with much enthusiasm
and team spirit across the centres.
Child care centres functioning in all the main
centres of Aravind have been a great blessing to the
working mothers at Aravind. The Child care centre was
inaugurated on April 1 at Aravind - Tirunelveli.
Funds were offered to employees to support their
childrens education needs. Felicitation programmes
were arranged for children of staff members who
successfully completed tenth and plus two.

Aravind - Tirunelveli introduced Programme for

Aravind Staff Support (PASS) wherein the vision centre
technicians along with their family members were
invited for a day long get-together. The programme was
held on December 20 and the main aim was to ensure
that the staff of vision centres receives the necessary
support from their family members to enable them to
 @

briefed on the important role played by the mid level
ophthalmic personnel in the system. The management
described in detail how the family members support
would make a positive change in these technicians
work. Several fun games and a quiz programme were
also arranged.

Participants of the Accounts CPE programme

89

Dr. Meenakshi inaugurating the child care centre at

Aravind-Tirunelveli

$
   {

   
Cuddalore

Tutorials on spoken English / Hindi / Tamil as well as

computer skills are being held regularly for different
cadres of staff members. Motivational sessions, spiritual
talks and healthcare awareness lectures were also
 



explore the rich tradition and heritage of this ancient

city and is supported by senior members of Aravind as
well as eminent personalities in Madurai.
Mr. Karumuttu Kannan, Managing Director,
Thiagaraja Mills released the CD. The lyrics and music
is by Prof. R. Prabahar and sung by Mr. Sanil Joseph
senior faculty LAICO. There was an overwhelming
response to the function as people from different walks
of life gathered at LAICO.
To mark the birth centenary of the veteran artist
Perumalda, Aravind - Madurai organised an exhibition
of his art works along with other forms of art immersion
from November 27-29. The exhibition attracted
thousands of students and admirers, from the city.

Into the Heart of the Community

Aravind has always been a strong community oriented
organisation and the various initiatives taken up in the
recent past were beyond the realm of eye care.
Aravind along with Green Walk actively mobilised
resources to support the victims of the devastating
&
''X
The great charity fest Angaadi was organised from
December 19-20 and the proceeds were sent to support
relief work.
On October 14, Madura -A Musical Discovery of
!

 

song in the series, Enga Madura. The project aims to

Angaadi at Aravind - Madurai

90

Jagriti Yatra 2015

Aravind - Madurai, December 27
For the eighth year in a row, around 480 Yatris visited
Aravind in the last week of December.
Prof. R. Prabahar and Mr. Sanil Josesph
at the launch of Enga Madura

Information Technology and

Systems

Product Enhancements

Since inception, Aravind has been a forerunner in using

IT as a tool for effective eye care service delivery. In
the last four decades, the team has developed several
information management systems for the smooth
functioning of the various departments of Aravind Eye
Care System. Today, several of the partner hospitals
}&Y
 

unique systems developed exclusively for eye care
institutions.
Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is on the top
priority of IT implementation and a dedicated team
has been working on it for the past four years. It was

'&&!
three years ago with refraction modules. Even as the
development is ongoing, implementation of it in smaller
units of the Aravind system has begun. Mr. Richard
Gartee, volunteer from USA was at Aravind to help
develop resources and curriculum for training staff in
the use of EMR. Mr. Suman Venkataswamy, another
volunteer gave inputs on testing tool (Telerik) and
worked on areas such as Google Analytics and Patient
communication service.
During 2015-2016, EMR was implemented in both
the Out-patient and In-patient services at AravindTheni and at Aravind-Madurai Free Section. It was also
implemented in Aravind-Madurai Paying Out-patient
Unit III and in the Community Centre at Cumbum


EMR to nine.
By June 2017, all the existing Aravind centres will
start using EMR and the upcoming centres will have the
facility from day one.

Several enhancements, changes and upgrades were done

to this programme. Some of the new features added are:
- Corporate accounts management: to manage credit
transactions and tracking individual invoices.
- Facility for online admission at campsite using
a laptop has been implemented in Aravind Coimbatore, Tirunelveli and Pondicherry
- Combined collection report from both outpatient
and inpatient services is added and same could be
uploaded into Tally.

Electronic Medical Record implementation at the out-patient area

Integrated Hospital Management System (IHMS)

Stores Management System

New features to upload purchase details directly into
tally were included and barcode label scanner was
installed for sub stores.

Optical Shop Software

Central inventory and order management of optical
services for vision centres was introduced. This enables
the vision centres to manage optical services without
keeping stock and also to process the orders as soon as
they are registered.

Integrated Human Resource Information System

Attendance reports for doctors and others were added
in the existing system to monitor the punch-in/on-duty/
leave status.

Siksha Gauge
A new version of Resident MIS was introduced with
additional features to evaluate residents performance
across centres, and training programmes conducted.
Aurovikas, the training management software was
Mr. Karthikeyan, IT programmer is training and implementing
IHMS software at CEH, UHEAL, Nairobi

91

upgraded incorporating online application form for

Long term Fellowship.

BOOST-Cataract Outcome Monitoring

An exciting new app called BOOST (Better Operative
Outcomes Software Tool) is being developed as a
collaborative effort between Aravind and other eye
care organisations. Conceived by Dr. Nathan Congdon,
this simple application could make it possible for
ophthalmologists in areas where patients may not
return after a month for follow-up after cataract surgery
' 
 

post-op visual acuity. The app uses new information
proving that making early measurements of vision,
 


 '
reliable information on the quality of surgery. Aravinds
IT department helped develop windows based
application for piloting and getting feedback. Based on
  
^


' 
'|YY/@
application.

Upgraded technology in mail server

Upgraded Technology
 }&Y ! 

was upgraded to incorporate the entire email accounts
of Aravind domain.
A central SMS gateway service was implemented
that could be utilised by any Aravind centre for patient
communication purposes.
Various upgrades were done in several Aravind
centres for improving capacity, performance and
security.
- Database and application servers were connected
to a switch that manages inputs of 2 uninterrupted
Information Technology division

92



power supply units to ensure that the system runs

continuously even in case of power or UPS failure.
To manage the ever growing size of images generated
from diagnostic equipment, the storage capacity was
upgraded at Aravind -Coimbatore and Tirunelveli.
To ensure continuous operation of systems in the
patient care area, mirror server was setup in SQL.
This ensures uninterrupted work even if the main
server fails for any reason.
@


 


and to improve the performance and security, Cisco
Air cap access point with wireless controller was
installed.
Camp hospital at Aravind-Madurai located 300m
away from the base hospital was earlier connected to
the main centre using WiFi technology for sharing
central database and applications. This facility was
upgraded to WiFi ac technology to ensure higher
bandwidth as well as better performance when EMR
system is fully implemented.

Support to Other Eye Hospitals

Since 2004, Aravind has been offering IT solutions to
enable other eye hospitals in using data for managing
and improving eye care services in their region. Today,
92 hospitals in India and other countries around
the world use the various IT systems developed at
Aravind. During 2015 - 2016, the following software
implementations were done.

Training Programmes
In addition to the onsite support provided during
software implementation, the IT team also offers
training to staff from user hospitals on request. In the
last year, personnel from Khulna BNSB Eye Hospital
and Grameen GC Eye Hospitals, Bogra received such
training.

Aravind Tele-ophthalmology
Network
At Aravind, tele-ophthalmology network was developed
' 



care in vision centres. On an average, a thousand tele
consultations are being handled each day at Aravind


 



Y
years, Aravind has also started collaborating with
various diabetes centres in the screening of diabetics
through tele-consultation with the help of Aravind
Diabetic Retinopathy Evaluation Software (ADRES). In
the year ending March 2016, 1837 cases were evaluated
using ADRES.
The tele-ophthalmology network also plays a major
role in different educational interactions which include
grand rounds, journal clubs, clinical meetings, post
Collaborating with diabetes centres in the screening of diabetics
for diabetic retinopathy through tele-consultation

graduate classes and classes for mid level ophthalmic

personnel and paramedics. Around 390 video
conferencing sessions including a few for international
conferences were conducted during the last year.

Biostatistics
The Biostatistics department plays a vital role in
supporting the various clinical and non-clinical research
projects at Aravind. It also helps in reporting and
publishing in collaboration with the investigators.
During April 2015 - 2016, the department supported

+
&
Trials (RCT) and four observational studies. The

'' 

 '
development, sample size calculation, randomisation,
data analysis and developing graphs. The department
staff also conduct classes in biostatistics for
postgraduates, fellows and other research scholars.

Library and Information Centre

Libraries at Aravind centres provide an enabling
environment for continuous learning, information
sharing and knowledge management. Library committee
meets regularly to take stock of the existing resources
and also suggest ways to improve the services. Visits
were carried out to libraries in Aravinds satellite
centres to oversee their functioning and give necessary
recommendations. Apart from catering to the needs of
Aravind users, the library helps develop the capacity of
other resource centres in India and developing nations.
A week long practical training session was arranged
for the librarians of Siliguri Greater Lions Eye Hospital
(April 23-27) and Netra Niramay Niketan, West Bengal
Ms.Kumaragurupari, Ms. Pamela C Sieving and Ms. Sabera Banu
at NIH Library

93

(March 7-12). The training focused on strengthening

the existing collection (print and electronic resources)
in these centres, and indexing system (retrieval and
search technique). It gave inputs on various electronic
and technological applications in library services. The
librarians helped the participants develop an action plan
for better performance.
In the year ending March 2016, libraries across the

]# ###

 
queries of more than 9153 persons at the reference desks
and through the ask a librarian services.

Exposure Visit
Ms. Kumaragurupari, Senior Librarian, AravindMadurai participated in the Association of Vision
Science Librarians (AVSL) meeting on October 6 at
New Orleans and gave a presentation on Aravind
libraries. She visited the Health Sciences Library, South
East Asia Library and the Sheldon Margen Public
Health Library at the University of California, Berkeley
(UCB). She interacted with Ms. Deborah of the Marian
Koshland Bioscience and the Natural Resources Library
at UCB, who gave her a demo of Global Infectious
Diseases and Epidemiology Online Network (GIDEN).
At the John Hopkins University Medical Centre, she
visited the Welch Medical Library and the Friedenwold
Romano Library. She learnt about the Refwork and
Web of Science Databases. At the National Health
Institute, she got an understanding of the IT services in
library management and gained a better understanding
of bibliometrics and impact analysis.
She went on a tour of National Library of Medicine,
Bethesda, Maryland, and learnt more about the
preservation of ancient books. She also had a tour
of PubMed indexing area and held discussions with
PubMed trainers, Peter Siebert and Mr. Sarah Helson.
At the NIH- Global Health Interest Group presymposium workshop, she spoke on the Challenges and
opportunities of accessing resources.

Aravind Communications
Consisting of the publications and audio visual
departments, Aravind Communications Division
'
?
 ' 
communication, health education and publicity material
needs of Aravind Eye Care System.
Web pages were created to facilitate online
registration and sharing information for the various

94

Mrs. Premalatha Paneerselvam, Mr. Manohar Devadoss and

/#&     +  >  
  
'
Vision with Mr. G. Srinivasan and Dr. P.Namperumalsamy
conferences and workshops conducted in the last year.
Intranet web pages were created for NABH Training
resources and Drug Formulary. A New suggestion
portal is launched in Inspiration website with a
content management system to administrate the user
suggestions.

New Publications
The third edition of the much sought after book,
Anatomy of the Eye authored by Dr. S.P.Banumathy
was launched in December 2015.
 <
 ''

about How Aravind became the Worlds Greatest
Business Case for Compassion translated and published
by Manjul Publications was launched on July 11.
Aravind Communications team played a small role
in the editing of this publication. Eminent persons
including Mr. Manohar Devadoss, Mr. Suryanarayanan,
Madurai Readers Club and Ms. Premalatha
Paneerselvam, Principal - Mahatma Schools shared
their thoughts on the book and inspired the audience.
Dr.P.Namperumalsamy and Mr. G. Srinivasan released
the book presenting a copy to each of the dignitaries.
Two awareness creation songs for promoting eye
donation among the public were also launched on
the same day. Lyrics written by Mr. Ramamoorthy
of the Accounts Division were put to tune and sung
by Mr. Sanil Joseph and visualisation was done by
Mr.Muneeswaran of Aravind Communications. The
songs are being played in the common waiting areas
in the hospitals along with other awareness creation
videos and are used for eye donation promotion.

Recognitions and Achievements

Apart from celebrating the efforts taken, awards
motivate people with a drive for improved performance.
Last year too, contributions of Aravind staff were
recognised by various forums, both national and
international. Senior members were specially invited for
delivering memorial lectures as well.

Recognitions
Geneva Forum for Health Award
Aravind Eye Care System was presented with Geneva
Forum for Health Award by the Health Practice of
McKinsey and Company held at Geneva on May 19.
The award recognised the organisations innovations in
healthcare delivery providing quality low cost eye care
to millions across India.

Honour by the Indian World of Retinologists

The Indian World of Retinologists honoured
Dr.P.Namperumalsamy along with Dr. Badrinath of
Sankara Netralaya, Chennai and Dr. Pran Nagpal
of Retina Foundation, at the event titled Celebrate
Retina Celebrate Life held at Mumbai on May 16.
Dr.P.Namperumalsamy was felicitated on the occasion
of his reaching 75 years of dedicated life in teaching
and training new generations of Retinologists in the
subcontinent.

Dr. P.Namperumalsamy receives the Prof.M. Viswanathan Award

from Dr.V.Santha, Founder, Adyar Cancer Institute

z_+ 

*  *   
Dr. P. Namperumalsamy was conferred with
Z!<
/

/
M.V.Hospital for Diabetes for his outstanding
contributions to ophthalmology on August 26 at
Chennai.

APOS Honour
Dakshin Netra - Annual Conference of Andhra
Pradesh Ophthalmic Society (APOS) honoured
Dr.P.Namperumalsamy for his outstanding

 '
annual conference held at Tirupathi on September 11.

Dr. R.D. Ravindran received the Geneva Forum for Health award on behalf of Aravind

95

Eminent Doctor award to Dr. M.Srinivasan

Susrutha Award to Dr. R.D.Ravindran at APAO, Taipei

Dr. K G R Nair Memorial Oration

Among the Worlds Most Compassionate

Leaders

Dr. P. Namperumalsamy delivered the Dr. K. G. R.

Nair Memorial Oration on Combating blindness from
diabetic retinopathy in India at the annual CME of
Trivandrum Ophthalmic Club held at Trivandrum on
April 26.

Healthcare Service Award

Dr. G. Natchiar was awarded Health Care Service
Award by Muthu Pharmacy Charitable Trust, Chennai
on June 21. Dr. Justice AR. Lakshmanan presented the
award which consisted of citation, medal and a cash
prize of Rs.1 lakh.

Eminent Doctor Award

Dr. R.D.Ravindran was named among the worlds

most compassionate leaders by the UK based SALT
Magazine. The selection was based on Aravind resource
conservation and economic sustainability, innovation,
'

 


Swach Bharat Samman

Dr. R.D.Ravindran received the Swach Bharat Samman
by Zee News, Indias leading television channel in
September.

Susrutha Lecture

On the occasion of its centenary celebrations, Tamil

Nadu Medical Council honoured Dr.M.Srinivasan with
Eminent Doctor award at Chennai on December 30.

Dr. R.D. Ravindran delivered Susrutha Lecture on

Improving visual outcomes and minimising surgical
complications in a large volume of cataract surgeries at

Z Y'
conference held at Taipei, Taiwan on March 25 -27.

GSI Silver Jubilee award to Dr. R. Ramakrishnan

Glaucoma Society of India (GSI) Awards

GSI honoured Dr. R.Ramakrishnan with Silver Jubilee
award in recognition of his sustained efforts towards
enhancing the science and practice of Glaucoma in
India. Dr.Tin Aung, Singapore National Eye Centre
presented the award at the annual conference of GSI
held at Mumbai on October 3.

Dr. Sudha Sutaria Vitreo Retinal Oration

Dr. R. Kim delivered the Dr. Sudha Sutaria Vitreo
Retinal Oration on Diabetic retinopathy care in India at
the installation ceremony of new body of Vidharbha
Ophthalmic Society held at Nagpur on March 19.
96

PSG Scroll of Honour to Dr. Usha Kim

Dr. S. Aravind and Mr. Saravanan receive the award for

Excellence in Eye Banking

PSG Scroll of Honour

Best Eye Bank in the Country Award

On the occasion of Founders Day celebrations held

on January 25, PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and
Research, Coimbatore presented a Scroll of Honour to
Dr. Usha Kim, a distinguished alumnus of the institute



 
'
' Y 
Oculoplasty and Ocular Oncology Services.

Rotary Aravind International Eye Bank received the

award for the best eye bank in the country by the Eye
Bank Association of India. Dr.M.Srinivasan received the
award at New Delhi on October 10.

Tamil Nadu Ophthalmic Association Awards

At the 63rd Annual Conference of Tamil Nadu
Ophthalmic Association (TNOA) held at Madurai,
Dr.M. Srinivasan was awarded the Lifetime
Achievement Award of TNOA in appreciation of his

 ']
And the Dr. M.N. Endowment Award was presented to
Dr. Haripriya Aravind.

TNOA Lifetime Achievement award to Dr. M. Srinivasan

Award for Excellence

Rotary Aravind International Eye Bank, Aravind Madurai won award for excellence in eye banking at the
annual conference of Sight Life held in Delhi on January
30. The eye bank was also honoured by SightLife for
having crossed 1000 transplants a year.

Vocational Excellence Award

Dr. R. Meenakshi received the Vocational Excellence
Award from the Rotary club of Tirunelveli West on
September 15.

Dr. M.N. Endowment award to Dr. Haripriya Aravind

97

Role Model Award

Mr. Poornachandran received the Role Model Award
as part of National Award for the Empowerment of
Persons with Disabilities, 2015 by the Ministry of Social
Justice and Empowerment, Government of India at New
Delhi on December 3. The award is given to persons
with disability who can be an exemplar for others by



 

Lions Award for Senior Nurses

Dr. Meenakshi receives the Vocational Excellence award

Senior nurses at Aravind, Tirunelveli Ms. Chidambaram,

Ms. Arumugam, Ms. Prema, Ms. Jenny and Ms. Sankara
Gomathy were felicitated for their humanitarian service
by Lions Club of Palayamkottai Stars on April 9.
Tamil Nadu Ophthalmic Association

IAPB Recognition
Mr. Raj Kumar, Aravind - Madurai was declared a
runner-up, Professional category in IAPBs Eye Care for
All Photo competition. Aurolabs IOL picture fetched
him this recognition.

Role Model Award to Mr. Poornachandran from the Ministry of

Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India
Humanitarian Service awards to Ms. Chidambaram, Ms. Jenny, Ms. Arumugam, Ms. Prema and Ms. Sankara Gomathy

98

Achievements

Biological Sciences by the Tamil Nadu State Council for

Science and Technology.

Best Poster Prize at the Annual Congress of

the Royal College of Ophthalmologists

Prize at Erudio Allergan 2015 Quiz

Poster based on a study co-investigated by

Dr. Jaya Chidambaram, Dr. N.Venkatesh Prajna titled
Diagnostic accuracy of In vivo confocal microscopy in detecting
fungus and acanthamoeba in microbial keratitis won the
best poster prize at the Annual Congress of the Royal
College of Ophthalmologists held at Liverpool, England
from May 19-21.

Senior residents of Aravind - Tirunelveli, Dr. Sabyasachi

Chakrabarty (2nd Prize) and Dr. Anubhuti Vyas (3rd
Prize) emerged winners of the Erudio Allergan 2015
Quiz Competition held at Chandigarh on January 9.

Raghavachar Medal for Best Paper

Glaucoma Society of India (GSI) Award

Dr. Hemalatha Gudiseva received the Raghavachar

Medal for Best Paper at Andhra Pradesh State
Ophthalmic Conference held at Tirupathi from
September 11-13.

Dr. R.Venkateshs video presentation on Novel

glaucoma screening in an outreach camp in developing
world won the second best video award.

Best Video Award at Oculoplasty Association

of India Annual Conference

TNOA Awards
Dr. R. Josephine Shyamala received Best Paper
Award for her paper on A Retrospective Study on
Epidemiology and surgical management of canalicular
lacerations in paediatric population.
Dr. P.S. Vivek won third place in Just a Minute
session for his presentation on Calibration of
tonometers.
~<
~/
 
'
in the Prof. E.T. Selvam Memorial Quiz Competition.

TANSA Award
Dr. P. Sundaresan was selected for the Tamil Nadu
Scientist Award - TANSA (2013) under the discipline -

Dr. Sabyasachi Chakrabarty and Dr.Anubhuti Vyas, winners of

the Erudio Allergan 2015 Quiz Competition

Dr. Viji Rengarajan received the award for her video

presentation on Palpebral remodelling in management of
 ' at the annual conference held at
Bhubaneswar from December 4-6.

Award at Cornea Society of India

Conference
Dr. Sayali Pradhan was awarded second prize for the
paper, Epidemiology and management of microsporidial keratitis
at Keracon - the Annual Conference of Cornea Society of
India held in Kolkata on December 11.

Young Achievers Award

Dr. Sabyasachi Sengupta of Aravind-Pondicherry
received Young Achievers Award at the 40th Annual
Dr. Sabyasachi Sengupta receives the Young Achievers award at
Vidharbha Ophthalmic Society Conference

99

Dr. Barath Janakiram receives the Dr. G. V Endowment award

for securing highest mark in the MS examination

Dr. B. Raghuraman receives the Dr. G. V Endowment award for

securing highest mark in the DO examination

Conference of Vidharbha Ophthalmic Society held at

Chandrapur on November 21.



 
'<
Fruit Carving and the second prize for Rangoli.

Prize at the Dinamalar Kolam Competition

z


For the third consecutive year, Ms. K.R.Deepa,

Housekeeping Supervisor won prize worth 4 gram gold
coin at the Kolam competition organised by Dinamalar
in Pondicherry on December 20.

At the annual day celebrations of Aravind - Madurai,

Dr. B.Raghuraman and Dr. Barath Janakiram were
honoured with Dr. G. Venkataswamy Endowment
Award for securing highest marks in the MS and DO
examinations respectively.

Farm Fest Awards for the 6th consecutive

year

Honorable Mention at ASCRS

At the 30th Flower, Vegetable and Fruit show organised

by the Government of Puducherry from January 24-26,
Aravind-Pondicherry won First Prize for Ornamental
and Kitchen Garden and Second Prize for Herbal
Garden for the sixth consecutive year.

Ophthalmic photographs taken by Mr. John Arumai

Selvan and Mr. Rajkumar were displayed at the
Ophthalmic Photographers Society Exhibit as part of
the ASCR Symposium held at San Diego, California
from April 17-21.

The proud gardeners team of Aravind - Pondicherry that won the Farm Fest awards for the sixth time with the senior staff and special
friends - Mike Myers, Dr. Krishnamoorthy and Dr. Chitra Krishnamoorthy

100

Partners in Service
@
'

  


support from well-wishers, friends and like-minded organisations in taking forward its mission. Their constant
support and generosity, in addition to providing the much-needed moral support has played a key role in the
growth of Aravind. The organisation looks forward to a continuing partnership with them.

For service delivery, training and more

For research

- Alagappa University, Karaikudi

- All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
- Aravind Eye Foundation, USA
 &/ 
+
 X~ 
India
 ~
Z/
+

~Z/+{ X~
- Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi, India
- Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, India
 
Z+

Ophthalmology, UCSF, USA
- Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth, USA
- Hitchcock Medical Centre, Lebanon New Hampshire
 &!+
 X~ 
- Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai
- Kalasalingam University, Krishnan Koil, Virudhunagar
District
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
- Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, India
- National Eye Institute, USA
- North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India
- Sastra University, Thanjavur
- Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore
- Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan
Provincial Peoples Hospital, Sichuan, China
 /+\
 &
 /=+
| X~ 
India
- Subroto Bagchi grant, Bangalore
 @X~!>+!\
 
Chennai, India
- University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
- University of Tasmania, Australia
- University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA
 <
+
 /X 
Chennai
- Wellcome Trust, UK
- World Health Organization, Switzerland
- Unite des Aspergillus, Institut Pasteur, Paris

Acumen, USA
Alcon Laboratories Inc, USA
Aravind Eye Foundation, USA
Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins
University, US
- Canadian International Development Agency CIDA
- Carl Zeiss Meditec, Germany
- CBM International, Germany
- Centre for Innovation in Public Systems, Hyderabad
- Combat Blindness Foundation, USA
- Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, USA
- Essilor, India
- Fred Hollows Foundation, Australia
- Harvard University - T H Chan School of Public Health
- Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, India
- Indian Overseas Bank, Chennai, Madurai
- International Agency for Prevention of Blindness, UK
- International Council for Ophthalmology, UK
- Lavelle Fund for the Blind, USA
- Lions Clubs International Foundation, USA
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK
- Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation, Mumbai
Y+|/ \/
+ \/
- Schwab Foundation and Social Entrepreneurship,
Switzerland
- Seva Foundation, USA
- Seva Canada Society, Vancouver, Canada
- SightLife, USA
- SightSavers, UK
- State Bank of India, Madurai
- Standard Chartered Bank, UK
- SoHum Foundation, US
- Subroto Bagchi grant, Bangalore
- The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, UK
- TOMS, USA
- Topcon, Japan
- University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
- University of California, Berkeley, USA
- University of Michigan, USA
- University of Pennsylvania, USA
- USAID, USA
</YX]#]#@+/ 
- Wescott Williams Ltd., UK
- World Association of Eye Hospitals
- World Diabetes Foundation, Denmark
YY{ /
- XOVA: Excellence in Ophthalmology Vision Award, USA

101

Aravind Eye Foundation

The Aravind Eye Foundation was founded in 2000 to
support the Aravind Eye Care System in its mission
to eliminate needless blindness and to promote
sustainable, high quality, patient-centric eye care
across the world. It does so by facilitating knowledge
exchange and active partnerships with higher
education, social enterprise, healthcare, government,
' 

@=
Foundation also funds those programmes of the Aravind
Eye Care System, which are not self-sustaining by
Aravinds core operations:

Ring of Hope
X
 +''

treatment for children suffering from retinoblastoma
and other types of eye cancer. A full course of treatment,
which includes surgery, chemotherapy, radiation,
custom-made prostheses and family counselling, costs
roughly $1000 - well beyond the means of most Indian
families. The fund also pays for patients to travel to
follow-up visits.
}
 +''
of 33 new patients and 567 review patient visits.
Nearly 5,000 patient visits have been funded since
'+' ##
children have received the gifts of sight and life.

School children at Vallalar Matric Hr. Sec. School

Spectacles for Scholars

Aravinds Spectacles for Scholars program provides free
vision screening and eye glasses to school children in
Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. Free eye glasses
have a major impact on a childs development. Wearing
eye glasses has been shown to improve maths scores as
much as reducing class size and can produce the same
effect as six months more education. The impact is
greatest among the poor, where education is the way to
a better life.

Ms. Donna Campbell with Prof. Muthukkaruppan, Dr. Usha Kim and the Genetic Testing Lab team

102

This year, Aravind Eye Foundation funded school

screening projects in Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem,
Pondicherry, Tirunelveli and Theni; 250,000 school
children were screened and nearly 11,000 eye glasses
were dispensed. Aravind plans to screen 1 million school
children annually by 2020.

Research
This past year, Aravind Eye Foundation purchased
$160,000 worth of equipment for Aravinds Genetics
@
}+
  

development of this world-class facility for genetic
testing. Aravinds unique rapid-sequencing methods


 8##]##
per test, making it more affordable for hospitals in the
developing world.
The Foundation is grateful for the generous support
+

!@
 /
Foundation and the many friends who contributed
>
@
}+

With their faith in this work, Aravind has become an
internationally-recognised centre of excellence for
retinoblastoma research and treatment.
+!~+!~{

one of the leading causes of blindness among older
''!+

Foundation is studying how to identify patients at



 

supplements. Aravind Eye Foundation purchased a

portable screening device for the study to assess the
health of macula. This research is funded by the Indian
&!+
 X~

Rural Vision Centres

With grants from the JJ Keller Foundation and
an anonymous donor, Aravind Eye Foundation


'

' 
'
costs for vision centres in the villages of Sivagiri,
@+/! 
total to 59 centres. By 2020, Aravind plans to open such
150 centres and provide access to eye care 10 million
people.
To date, Aravind Eye Foundation has funded 13
centres in India, each connected to an Aravind Hospital
by Aravinds award-wining telemedicine system.
During April 2015 to March 2016, 12 of these centres saw
_ '
_ $
'

for cataract surgery and 8,805 patients ordered glasses.

It is ourselves we are helping; it is ourselves

we are healing - Dr. G. Venkataswamy
Thank you to all of our donors, volunteers,
and advisors for giving so generously of
yourselves.

Members of the board of directors and advisory board of Aravind Eye Foundation

103

Govel Trust Mahema Devadoss Endowment

Nandini aged 14 and Ramesh aged 12 are bubbly
siblings who fared very well in academics until they were
diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa almost three years
ago. Even though their condition did not have any cure
as such, Vision rehabilitation centre at Aravind gave
them hope to lead a near-normal life with the help of
low vision aids. However, the portable electronic video
!"
    ! !

 
studies priced at Rs. 20,000 was way beyond their
reach. Thanks to Govel Trust Mahema Devadoss Fund
instituted by Mr. Manohar Devadoss - Aravind was
able to provide them one at just half of its original price.
Using this, the children are able to do very well in their
studies.
An artist-cum-writer, Manohar Devadoss grew up in
!8#
! 


exceptionally talented lady and together they made
an extraordinary couple. In the midst of their joy,
they made a promise to always strive to practice what
Mahema called, `The Art of Giving. Then there was the
road accident that changed everything. Mahema was
left paralysed below the shoulders - for life. Around

!

+

Pigmentosa, a degenerative retinal disorder for which
there is no known cure.
The couple never lost heart, never complained, and
accepted life cheerfully the way it came.
For more than three decades, Manohar remained
Mahemas most faithful nurse and attendant. Even
as his vision rapidly failed, Manohar Devadoss began
work on Green Well Years an illustrated book that
is a tribute to his boyhood in Madurai. Because of his
condition, Manohar has no color perception, and the
little he does see is as if seen through a pinhole. With
special eye drops to dilate his pupils, with strong lights

' 
''
and uncompromising attention to detail, he made these




' 
heartbreaking reproductions of snapshots from his life.
Together, each year they worked on a special set of
greeting cards. Manohar did the drawing and Mahema
prepared a short write-up explaining the particular
104

Mr. Manohar and Mahema Devadoss

 '  


he has drawn. They sold these cards and donated the
'
 
 '
Aravinds work for several years.
Manohar lost his beloved wife in 2008. He instituted
Govel Trust Mahema Devadoss Endowment in her
memory to support people with low vision. Since
inception in 2009, the fund continues to make
tremendous difference in the lives of several persons
with vision impairment.
It is not so common to come across individuals
who are an inspiration to everyone who knows them.
Mahema and Manohar were an exceptional couple who
by their warm and charismatic personality attracted
many into their lives who gradually became their
extended family and joined the Art of Giving.
Today, the couples friends scattered all over the
world are a part of this chain and their contributions
to the endowment help bring smiles in the lives of
many with low vision. These include celebrities like
Tamil actor Ajith Kumar, a friend of Mano who has
contributed substantial amount every year in the last
three years, and other individuals who consider it a
great privilege being a part of this noble cause.
Last year, over 350 persons with low vision have
received a new lease on life with the aids they have
received, either at half the price or fully free, thanks to
the endowment.

ARAVIND EYE CARE SYSTEM

Govel Trust
Board of Trustees
President
ER. G. SRINIVASAN
Trust Secretary
DR. N. VENKATESH PRAJNA
Members
DR. G. NALLAKRISHNAN
DR. P. NAMPERUMALSAMY
MRS. LALITHA SRINIVASAN
DR. G. NATCHIAR
DR. R. KIM
DR. S. ARAVIND
PRESIDENT, ROTARY CLUB,
MADURAI
MAIN BRANCH - (EX-OFFICIO)

Chairman &
Director - Quality
DR. R.D. RAVINDRAN, MS., DO
Chairman Emeritus &
Director - Research
DR. P. NAMPERUMALSAMY, MS, FAMS
Directors Emeritus
DR. G. NATCHIAR, MS, DO
DR. M. SRINIVASAN, MS, DO

CENTRAL FUNCTIONS
FINANCE
Director
ER. G. SRINIVASAN, BE, MS
Manager
N. SHANMUGASUNDARAM, B.COM
OPERATIONS
Director
R.D. THULASIRAJ, MBA
HUMAN RESOURCES
Director
DR. S.R. KRISHNADAS, DO, DNB
Managers
R. DEEPA, MHM
C. GNANASEKARAN, MBA
ACADEMICS
Director - Residency Training
DR. N. VENKATESH PRAJNA, DO, DNB,
FRCOphth

Director - Mid Level Ophthalmic

Personnel
DR. USHA KIM, DO, DNB
PROJECTS
Director
DR. S. ARAVIND, MS, MBA

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Director
DR. R. KIM, DO, DNB
Senior Manager
B.S. GANESH BABU, M.COM, MS
Senior Network Administrator
S.J. RAJAN, MCA
Manager - Web Applications
S. SANTHA SUBBULAKSHMI, MCA, MBA, MLIS
Manager
R. MALA, MCA
ARAVIND COMMUNICATIONS
CHITRA THULASIRAJ, B.SC
PURCHASE & MAINTENANCE
S. JAYACHANDRAN, MHM
OUTREACH
Senior Manager
R. MEENAKSHI SUNDARAM, MHM
BIOSTATISTICS
B. VIJAYAKUMAR, M.SC
LIBRARY & INFORMATION CENTRE
R. KUMARAGURUPARI, MA, M.LI.SC, M.Phil

105

Aravind Eye Hospitals & Postgraduate Institute of Ophthalmology

Run by Govel Trust

ARAVIND - MADURAI
&!Y Z


DR. R. KIM, DO, DNB

Z


DR. S. ARAVIND, MS, MBA
RETINA-VITREOUS SERVICES
&Z


DR. R. KIM, DO, DNB
Professors
DR. ANAND RAJENDRAN, DO, DNB, FRCS (G)
DR. K. NARESH BABU, MS
Assistant Professors
DR. MANISH TANDON, DNB
DR. JATINDER SINGH, MS
DR. PUJA BHUWANIA, DNB
Tutors
DR. RENU P RAJAN, MD
DR. KARTHIK KUMAR, MS
DR. K. HEMALATHA, MS
DR. M.Y. VISHAL, MS
DR. G.V. PAVAN KUMAR, MS
DR. BHANU PRATAP SINGH PANGTEY, MS
INTRAOCULAR LENS & CATARACT
SERVICES
&Z


DR. G. HARIPRIYA ARAVIND, MS
Professors
DR. S. ARAVIND, MS, MBA
DR. K. ILANGO, DO, DNB
Assistant Professors
DR. NIRAJ KUMAR AGARWAL, MS
DR. MADHU SHEKHAR, MS
DR. TANPREET PAL SINGH, MS
DR. V.R.VIVEKANANDAN, MS
DR. PREETHIKA GANDHI, MS
DR. ARUNA PAI, MS
DR. ASHOK VARDHAN, DO, DNB
Tutors
DR. VISHNU DEEPTHI, MS
DR. B. RAGHURAMAN, MS
DR. G.N. SUBATHRA, MS
DR. P.C. RANJAN, DNB
DR. ABIRAMASUNDARI, MS
DR. AMISH SHAH, MS

106

Medical Consultants
DR. V.P. RAVICHANDRAN, DO
DR. PAMONA SAMSON, DO
DR. K.N. JAYASRI, DO
DR. G. VEDHANAYAKI, DO
DR. DEEBA ISHRATH, DO
DR. GOMATHI RAMYA, DO
DR. BARATH JANAKIRAM, DO
DR. LIZ MARY SANTHOSH, DO
DR. S.M.SINDOORY, DO
DR. LEENU JERIS, DO
CORNEA & REFRACTIVE SURGERY
SERVICES
&Z


DR. N. VENKATESH PRAJNA, DO, DNB,
FRCOphth.

~=
Z


DR. M. SRINIVASAN, MS, DO
Professor
DR. MANORANJAN DAS, DNB
Assistant Professor
DR. M. PURUSHOTHAMA RAJKUMAR, MS
Tutors
DR. ARUNKUMAR PANIGRAHI, MS
DR. NAVEEN R, MS
DR. ASHISH KUMAR, DNB
DR. V. LUMBINI DEVI, MS
Medical Consultants
DR. MOHAMED FAIZAL, DO
DR. ASHWIN B, DO
PAEDIATRIC OPHTHALMOLOGY &
ADULT STRABISMUS SERVICES
&Z


DR. SHASHIKANT SHETTY, MS
Professor
DR. P. VIJAYALAKSHMI, MS
Assistant Professors
DR. SATHYA T RAVILLA, MS
DR. A.S. JAMUNA, DO, DNB
Tutors
DR. NAVDEEP KAUR, DNB
Medical Consultant
DR. A. RUPA, DO

GLAUCOMA SERVICES
&Z


DR. GEORGE VARGHESE PUTHURAN, MS
~+~Z


DR. S.R. KRISHNADAS, DO., DNB
Professors
DR. MANJU R PILLAI, DO, DNB
DR. R. SHARMILA, DNB
Associate Professors
DR. H. KASTHURI BAI, DO, DNB
DR. P.S. VIVEK, DO, DNB
Assistant Professors
DR. NEETHU MOHAN, MS
DR. INDIRA DURAI, DNB
Medical Consultant
DR. S. VIDYA, DO
UVEA SERVICES
&Z


DR. S.R. RATHINAM, DO, DNB, Ph.D
Professor
DR. T. RADHIKA, DNB
ORBIT, OCULOPLASTY AND OCULAR
ONCOLOGY SERVICES
&Z


DR. USHA KIM, DO, DNB
Tutor
DR. NAMRATA GAIKWAD, MS
DR. JYOTI S SANGHI, MS
NEURO-OPHTHALMOLOGY SERVICES
&Z


DR. MAHESH KUMAR, DO, DNB
Professor
DR. A. KOWSALYA, DO, DNB
VISION REHABILITATION CENTRE
Professor
DR. ILANGO, DO, DNB
MICROBIOLOGIST/ PROFESSOR
DR. S. LALITHA PRAJNA, MD, DNB
ANAESTHETISTS
DR. A. RAVICHANDAR, MD, DA
DR. A. HARI NARAYANA PRABHU, MD,DA

PHYSICIANS
DR. BANUSHREE, MD
DR. NAVEEN, MS
FREE HOSPITAL
Medical Consultant
DR. V.P. RAVICHANDRAN, DO
Assistant Administrator
R. RAMESH BABU, M.A
NURSING
Nursing Superintendents
B. DHAGIRNISA BEGUM
R. JEEVA
Staff - Tutor
ALEES MARY, R.N.R.M
Staff - Theatre
ALIKUTTY VARGEESE, R.N.R.M
ADMINISTRATION
@
'Z+
Y 

S.G. RAMANATHAN, M.A

!Y 
K.S. KANDASAMY, B.A

Y 
R. RETHINASABAPATHY, B.A
Manager - Accounts
R. VELUMANI, B.COM, (BA)
Manager - Stores
J. SHOBHA, MCA
Manager - Personnel
A. VENKATACHALAM, B.Sc
Manager - Inpatients
S. SUNYTHA, MSW, MBA, DLL
Manager - Quality Assurance
USHALINI, MBA
Manager - Retina Vitreous Services
A. SHOBANA, B.Sc, PGDHM
Manager - Glaucoma Services
DAMIEN JACOB, MBA

ARAVIND - THENI
&!Y Z


DR. DIPANKAR DATTA, DO, DNB, MNAMS,
(OPH)

Medical Consultants
DR. ASHIS GHOSH, MS
DR. KANCHAN SAWANT, MS
DR. VEDANG SHAH, MS
DR. MANISHA SHAH, DO
DR. V. RAGHURAM, MS
DR. MANORANJAN M, DO

CORNEA & REFRACTIVE SURGERY

SERVICES
&


Z


DR. V. ANITHA, DNB
Tutor
DR. RATHI HARSHAL, DNB
Medical Consultant
DR. SHAMMY KRISHNAN, DO
PAEDIATRIC OPHTHALMOLOGY &
ADULT STRABISMUS SERVICES
&Z


DR. R. MEENAKSHI, DO, DNB
Assistant Professors
DR. A. FATHIMA, MS
DR. NEELAM PAWAR, MS

ADMINISTRATION
MANAGER - VISION CENTRE
R. BALASIVA, BA, MSW
Manager - Patient care
K. KALAIVENDAN, MBA (HA)
NURSING
Nursing Superintendent
R. SEENIAMMAL
R. GOWRI

ARAVIND - TIRUNELVELI
&!Y Z


DR. R. RAMAKRISHNAN, MS, DO
~'&!Y 
DR. R. MEENAKSHI, DO, DNB
RETINA - VITREOUS SERVICES
&


Z


DR. VENUGOPAL REDDY, Y.C.
Assistant Professors
DR. KARTHIK SRINIVASAN, MS
DR. SYED MOHIDEEN ABDUL KHADAR,
MS

DR. H. S. VISHWANATH, DO, DNB

INTRAOCULAR LENS & CATARACT
SERVICES
&Z


DR. SHIVAKUMAR CHANDRASHEKAR, MS
Assistant Professors
DR. A. FATHIMA, MS
DR. M. SHERIN HAROON, MS
Tutors
DR. ABHIJITH, MS
DR. AARTHY, MS, DO

GLAUCOMA SERVICES
&Z


DR. MOHIDEEN ABDUL KADER, DNB
&&
Z


DR. R. RAMAKRISHNAN, MS, DO
Assistant Professor
DR. DEVENDRA MAHESHWARI, MS
Tutors
DR. K. RAVICHANDRA, MS
DR. AMY MOHAN, DO, DNB
DR. K. ABHISHEK, DO, DNB
ORBIT, OCULOPLASTY AND OCULAR
ONCOLOGY SERVICES
&Z


DR. V. MANEKSHA, MS
Medical Consultant
DR. UPASANA KATHURIA, DO, MS
NEURO-OPHTHALMOLOGY SERVICES
&Z


DR. S. PADMAVATHY, MS
Consultant Anesthetist
DR. S. NAVANEETHA KRISHNAN, MBBS, D.A
GENERAL OPHTHALMOLOGY SERVICES
Assistant Professors
DR. M. DIVYA, MS
DR. ABISHEK REDDY, MS
LOW VISION CLINIC
Assistant Professor
DR. NEELAM PAWAR, MS

107

FREE HOSPITAL
Professor
DR. SAKTHIVEL, MS
Manager
S. BALAKRISHNAN

DR. VAIBHAV SHAH, DNB

DR. GAYATRI MURUGAN, MS
DR. ADARSH NAIK, MS
DR. RAMYA, MD
DR. MERLYN PEREIRA, MS

NURSING
Nursing Superintendents
M.N. CHIDHAMBARAM
V. ARUMUGAM

INTRAOCULAR LENS & CATARACT

SERVICES
&Z


DR. KALPANA NARENDRAN, DO, DNB
Professor
DR. KAVITHA YUVARAJAN, DO, DNB
Associate Professor
DR. S. GUHAPRIYA, DNB
Assistant Professors
DR. VISHNU POUNRAJ, MS
DR. MUMDHAJ, DNB
DR. ANITA MOHANAN, MS
DR. P. VIVEKANAND, DO, DNB
Tutors
DR. ARJUN, DNB
DR. SHALINI P, MS
DR. KRISHNA BABU, MS
DR. NISANTH RAJAN, MS
DR. CHANDRASEKAR, MS
DR. MANJU VINYTHERA, DNB
DR. A.J. NIRMAL, MS
!Y 

DR. SHOBA CHINNAN, DO

DR. DHANALAKSHMI, DO

ADMINISTRATION
!Y Y
P. NAVANEETHA KRISHNAN
Z+
Y 
M. MAHADEVAN
Manager - Human Resource
LAKSHMI. R, MBA
Manager - Inpatient Services
M. VIKKY KUMAR, MBA
Manager - Glaucoma Clinic
RANITHA GUNASELVI, BPT, MBA
Manager - IT & Systems
P. THIRUVENGADAM, MA, PGDCA
Librarian
E. PERUMALSAMY, M.LI.SC
Microbiologist
G. RAMESH KUMAR, M.SC

ARAVIND - COIMBATORE
&!Y Z


DR. V. NARENDRAN, DO, DNB
RETINA VITREOUS SERVICES
&Z


DR. V. NARENDRAN, DO, DNB
Professors
DR. RODNEY JOHN MORRIS, MS
DR. V.R. SARAVANAN, DO, DNB
DR. PARAG K SHAH, DNB
Reader
DR. GEORGE MANAYATH, MS, FRCS
Assistant Professor
DR. UPENDRA BABU, MS
Tutors
DR. KARAN ANNAPUR KUMARASAMY, MS
DR. PALMEERA D SOUZA, DO, DNB
DR. UDAYASREE G, MS
108

CORNEA & REFRACTIVE SURGERY

SERVICES
&Z


DR. R. REVATHI, MS
Associate Professor
DR. ANITA RAGHAVAN, DO, FRCS (G)
Assistant Professors
DR. P. MANGALA, DNB
DR. PRABHU, MS
Tutors
DR. PRAVIN SAMBANDHAM, MS
DR. SOLY SOMAPALAN, MS
DR. SUSHMA POOJARY, MS
DR. SANKIT SHAH, MS
DR. RAGHVENDRA BORGAONKAR, DNB
DR. YACHANA PRAKASH, DNB
DR. SAKTHI RAJESWARI, DNB
DR. DEVI ROSETTE, MS

PAEDIATRIC OPHTHALMOLOGY &

STRABISMUS SERVICES
&Z


DR. KALPANA NARENDRAN, DO, DNB
Associate Professor
DR. C. SANDRA, DO, DNB
Tutors
DR. SASIKALA ELIZABETH, DNB
DR. DHAGE AASHISH RAMESH, DNB
DR. AMRUDHA SINDHU, DNB
GLAUCOMA SERVICES
&

Z


DR. GANESH V RAMAN, MS
Assistant Professor
DR. ROHAN DANIEL, DO, DNB
Tutors
DR. PREMANAND, MS
DR. MRUNALI MOHAN, MS
DR. KARTIK PANIKKAR, DNB
UVEA SERVICES
&


Z


DR. V.K. ANURADHA, MD, FRCS
ORBIT, OCULOPLASTY AND OCULAR
ONCOLOGY SERVICES
&!Y 
DR. VIJI RANGARAJAN, DO
Tutor
DR. HARIKRISHNAN. M, MS
DR. NAMRATA ADULKAR, DNB
NEURO - OPHTHALMOLOGY
SERVICES
&!Y 
DR. VIRNA SHAH, DO
NURSING
Nursing Superintendent
S. SULOCHANA
Assistant Nursing Superintendent
R. RADHIKA

ADMINISTRATION
Manager - General
M. RANJITHKUMAR, B.Sc, PGDHM
Manager - Administration
S. SANGEETHA, MHA
Manager - HR
R. UMAPRIYA, MA, PTSTA
Manager - Accounts
S. KRISHNASAMI B.SC
Manager - Maintenance
K.M. SENNIAPPAN, B.Sc, B.TECH
Manager - Outreach
M. MURUGARAJU, MA
Manager - Personnel
R. JEBADURAI, BA, PGDPM
Manager - Transport
D. KARTHIKEYAN, DIP, COP
Civil Engineer
S. GANAPATHY, DCE
Electrical Engineer
A.M. APPUSAMY, DEE
Manager - IT Systems
S. THIRUNAVUKKARASU, B.Sc
Manager - Opticals
M. MURUGESAN, B.COM
Manager- Quality Assurance
MR. GAUTHAM KUMAR, M.SC
(HOSP.ADMN)
Manager- Inpatient
MRS. PRIYA AJITHAN M.SC (HOSP.ADMN)

ARAVIND - PONDICHERRY
&!Y Z


DR. R. VENKATESH, DO, DNB
RETINA-VITREOUS SERVICES
&


Z


DR. PANKAJA DHOBLE, MS
Tutor
DR. MANAVI D. SINDAL, MS
!Y 

DR. PRABU BASKARAN, MS, DNB

DR. MADANAGOPALAN, V.G. MS.,

INTRAOCULAR LENS & CATARACT

SERVICES
!Y 

DR. MANAS NATH, DO

DR. PRASANTH GIREESH, MS
CORNEA & REFRACTIVE SURGERY
SERVICES
&

Z


DR. TIRUVENGADA KRISHNAN, DO, DNB
Tutors
DR. SHIVANANDA, MS
DR. SEEMA RAMAKRISHNAN, DO, DNB
!Y 
DR. RAJESH V, MS
PAEDIATRIC OPHTHALMOLOGY CONTACT LENS SERVICES
&

Z


DR. K. VEENA, DO, DNB
Assistant Professor
DR. MARIE FREDRICK MOUTTAPPA, DO, DNB
!Y 
DR. ANJALI KHADIA, MS
GLAUCOMA SERVICES
&Z


DR. R. VENKATESH, DO, DNB
Assistant Professor
DR. S. KAVITHA, MS
Tutor
DR. SWATI UPADHYAYA, DO, DNB
!Y 
DR. DEBASISH DASH, MS
ORBIT, OCULOPLASTY & OCULAR
ONCOLOGY SERVICES
Assistant Professors
DR. JAYAGAYATHRI, DO, DNB
DR. DAYAKAR YADALLA, MS, FRCS
NEURO - OPHTHALMOLOGY
SERVICES
!Y 
DR. K. NIRMALADEVY, DO
UVEA SERVICES
Assistant Professor
DR. S. BALA MURUGAN, MS

GENERAL OPHTHALMOLOGY
SERVICES
Assistant Professor
DR. S. JOSEPHINE CHRISTY, MS
Tutors
DR. PRIYA S, MS
DR. JAYASHREE B, DO, DNB
DR. ANNAMALAI O, DO, DNB
DR. GIRISH BHARAT VELIS, DNB
DR. SANKALP SINGH SHARMA, DO, DNB
DR. PUJA PRATIVA, MS
DR. SREENATH K. DO
Medical Consultant
DR. BALAMURUGANANDARAJ, DO
Microbiologist
I. JOSEPH GUBERT, M.Sc., M.Phil
NURSING
Nursing Superintendents
R.V. SELVARANI
A. SUBBULAKSHMI
ADMINISTRATION
Manager - Administration
P. POOBALAN, B.Com
V. SANTHANAM, B.Com
Manager - General
P. KANAGARAJ, BE
Manager - Human Resource
A. SUMATHI, MBA
Manager - Accounts
J. SOLAIMUTHU, P.U.C
Manager - Camp
A. XAVIER, B.Sc
Manager - Free Hospital and
Vision Centre
K. KAVERI, B.A
Manager - Maintenance
P. THANAPAL, DCE
Manager - Patient Care & Quality
Assurance
N. VENGADESAN, MBA
Manager - Paediatric Ophthalmology
Services-City Centre
A. PRIYA, MBA
Manager - It & Systems
M. ASHOK, MCA

109

ARAVIND - TIRUPUR

ARAVIND - TUTICORIN

Aravind Eye Banks

Medical Consultant
DR. VAIDEE VIKRAM, MS

Medical Consultant
DR. G. ANITHA, DO, DNB
Manager - Patient Care &
Administration
N. MOHAMMED GHOUSE, MBA
!Y 
A. NAMMALVAR, B.SC

ROTARY ARAVIND
INTERNATIONAL EYE BANK,
MADURAI

ARAVIND - DINDIGUL
Medical Consultants
DR. DEEPAK KUMAR, MS
DR. M. NAVEEN, DO
Manager
R. BALASUBRAMANI, M.Sc

ARAVIND - UDUMALPET
ARAVIND - SALEM
RETINA - VITREOUS SERVICES
Medical Consultant
DR. M. MANJUNATH, MBBS, MS, FVRS
DR. GIRISH V BALIGA, MS
UVEA & CATARACT SERVICES
&!Y Z


DR. B. MANOHAR BABU, MS
CORNEA & REFRACTIVE SURGERY
Medical Consultants
DR. J. ANUJA, MS,
DR. RAHUL ANIL NEHATE, MS
GLAUCOMA SERVICES
Medical Consultants
DR. SUNDAR T, MS
DR. K. MANJULA, DNB
GENERAL
DR. P.J. ARUNA, MS
DR. NANDA KISHORE P, DO
DR. VIJAYALAKSHMI G, DO
DR. V.CHANDRASEKAR, DO
NURSING SUPERINTENDENT
INDIRANI
ADMINISTRATION
Manager Patient Care
MR. SERAN.I, MBA (HM); FEHM
Manager Accounts & Finance
MR. SELVARAJ
IT & Systems
MR. IRSHAD HUSSAIN, DECE

110

Assistant Professor
DR. R. SANKARANANDHAN, MS
Tutor
DR. R. JANANI, MS
!Y 
V. MOUNA GURUSAMY

Medical Director
DR. M. SRINIVASAN, MS
Technical Director
DR. LALITHA PRAJNA, MD, DNB
Medical Director Designee
DR. MANO RANJAN DAS, DNB
Eye Bank Manager
D. SARAVANAN, MSW, M.Phil, MBA(HR)
PGDC

ROTARY ARAVIND EYE BANK,

TIRUNELVELI

Lions Aravind Institute

of Community
Ophthalmology

Medical Director
DR. R. RAMAKRISHNAN, MS, DO
Medical Director Designee
DR. V. ANITHA, DNB, FAICO

Run by Govel Trust

ARAVIND - IOB EYE BANK,

COIMBATORE

Grant Administrator
LN. N.A.K. GOPALAKRISHNARAJA, MJF
Executive Director
R.D. THULASIRAJ, MBA
Senior Faculty
B. S. GANESH BABU, M.COM, MS
R. MEENAKSHI SUNDARAM, MHM
K. M. SASHIPRIYA, MHM
V. VIJAYAKUMAR, MSW, M.Phil
R. SURESH KUMAR, MA, PGDHM
SANIL JOSEPH, MHM
Faculty
DHIVYA RAMASAMY, MBA
MOHAMMAD GOWTH, MA, PGDHM
Faculty Associate
A. SYED ALI, MA
D. YESUNESAN, MSW
B. UDAYAKUMAR, MSW
Administrator
G. KRISHNA VENI, M.SC

Medical Director
DR. V. NARENDRAN , DO, DNB
Medical Director Designee
DR. ANITHA RAGHAVAN, DO, FRCS (G)

ARAVIND EYE BANK

ASSOCIATION OF
PONDICHERRY
Medical Director
DR. K. TIRUVENGADA KRISHNAN, DO,
DNB

Medical Director Designee

DR. N. SHIVANANDA, MS

Dr. G. Venkataswamy
Eye Research Institute
Run by Aravind Medical Research
Foundation
President
DR. P. NAMPERUMALSAMY, MS, FAMS
Vice President
DR. G. NATCHIAR, MS, DO
Secretary & Treasurer
DR. R. KIM, DO, DNB
Director-Research
DR. K. DHARMALINGAM, M.SC., Ph.D
Advisor - Research
DR. VR. MUTHUKKARUPPAN, M.SC, Ph.D
MOLECULAR GENETICS
Senior Scientist
DR. P. SUNDARESAN, M.SC, Ph.D
Scientist
DR. A.VANNIARAJAN, M.SC, Ph.D
Clinician Scientists
DR. R. KIM, DO, DNB
DR. P. VIJAYALAKSHMI, MS
DR. HARIPRIYA ARAVIND, MS
DR. USHA KIM, DO, DNB
DR. MAHESH KUMAR, DO, DNB
DR. N. VENKATESH PRAJNA, DO., DNB.,
FRCOphth

DR. SHASHIKANT SHETTY, MS

DR. R.VENKATESH DO, DNB
DR. S. KAVITHA, MS

Aurolab
Run by Aurolab Trust
OCULAR PHARMACOLOGY
Scientist
DR. S. SENTHILKUMARI, M.Pharm, Ph.D
Clinician Scientists
DR. ANAND RAJENDRAN, DO, DNB,
FRCS (G)
DR. S.R. KRISHNADAS, DO, DNB
PROTEOMICS
Director
DR. K. DHARMALINGAM, M.SC, Ph.D
Scientists
DR. J. JEYA MAHESHWARI, M.SC, Ph.D
Associate Faculty
DR. O.G. RAM PRASAD, M.SC., Ph.D
Clinician Scientists
DR. N. VENKATESH PRAJNA, DO,
DNB, FRCOphth.
DR. SR. KRISHNADAS, DO, DNB
DR. R. KIM, DO, DNB
MICROBIOLOGY
SCIENTIST
DR. M. VIDYARANI, M.SC, Ph.D
Clinician Scientists
DR. SR. RATHINAM, MNAMS, Ph.D
DR. LALITHA PRAJNA, MD, DNB
BIOINFORMATICS
Scientist
DR. D. BHARANIDHARAN, M.Sc, Ph.D

IMMUNOLOGY & STEM CELL BIOLOGY

Scientists
DR.VR. MUTHUKKARUPPAN, M.SC, Ph.D
DR. GOWRIPRIYA CHIDAMBARANATHAN,
M.SC, Ph.D
Clinician Scientists
DR. N. VENKATESH PRAJNA, DO., DNB.,

Trust President
R.D. THULASIRAJ, MBA
Trust Secretary
DR. S. ARAVIND, MS, MBA
Members
G. SRINIVASAN, BE, MS
DR. P. NAMPERUMALSAMY, MS, FAMS
DR. G. NATCHIAR, MS, DO
DR. R. KIM, DO, DNB
Managing Director
DR. P. BALAKRISHNAN, BE, Ph.D
Joint Managing Director
R.D. SRIRAM, BE
Division Manager - Pharmaceuticals
V. VENKATESA KANNAN, M.Sc, PGDPMIR
Division Manager - Intraocular Lens
R.D. SRIRAM, BE
Marketing Manager - Exports
N. VISHNU PRASAD, MHM, MBA
Marketing Manager - Domestic
S. SIVANAND, B.Sc, MBA
Manager - Regulatory Affairs
R. KRISHNA KUMAR, B.Pharm, MS
Manager - Human Resources
SWETHA V, MBA
Manager - IT & Systems
K.R. SANKAR, M.Sc
Production Supervisor
L. LINGAMMAL

PATHOLOGY
Clinician Scientist
DR. R. SANTHI, MD

FRCOphth.

111