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SiteLog

« December 2004 | Main | February 2005 »

Call Us Toll Free At 1-877-EYE-SNOM

If you are based in the US or Canada, please call us toll-free 1-877-EYE-SNOM (1-877-393-7666) for more information about Sankara Nethralaya. This new service is open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m to 4 pm, Eastern Standard Time. We look forward to answering your questions.

Indo-Isreal Ophthalmic Congress

November 19 & 20, 2005 promises to be both exciting and enlightening. Professor Michael Blumenthal along with a galaxy of eminent speakers will share their knowledge on SICS and provide updates on the latest trends in glaucoma, oculoplasty, diabetic retinopathy and ARMD.

L. V. Prasad Eye Institute, Aravind Eye Hospital, Sri Sankaradeva Nethralaya, Guwahati and Shri Ganapati Netralaya, Jalna have joined hands with Sankara Nethralaya to co-host the Congress.

For details, please contact secretariat@i2ioc2005.org.

Coming Soon

Elite School of Optometry, part of the Medical Research Foundation, will be celebrating its 20th Anniversary in the year 2005. To commemorate this milestone, there will be an International Conference in Vision Science and Optometry in August 2005. The conference will be the first of its kind in India and will cover a variety of topics such as Myopia, Refraction, Contact Lens, Dispensing, Binocular Vision, Low Vision, Ocular and Retinal Physiology, Ocular Diseases and Management and Tele-Optometry. Several internationally acclaimed researchers and stalwarts of vision science and optometry will participate and present papers in the conference.

Elite School of Optometry was inaugurated in 1985 with guidance from Professor Jay M. Enoch, Dean Emeritus, School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley, USA.

In the last 20 years, ESO has been acclaimed internationally as a quality optometry education center. ESO offers B.S., M.Phil, Ph.D in collaboration with BITS, Pilani. For details about the forthcoming conference, please write to eivoc_2005@rediffmail.com or varadharajanESO@rediffmail.com.

Institute of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology

The opportunities for Sankara Nethralaya Institute of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology appear to be becoming brighter with every such interaction.

We have had a few distinguished visitors recently at Sankara Nethralaya.

Dr. Colin Blakemore, Head of Medical Research Council, United Kingdom visited the hospital and the research laboratories on January 6, 2005. He expressed interest in carrying out epidemiology and clinical trials in collaborative research projects with Vision Research Foundation.

Dr. Niranjan Viswanathan, an American Board certified Pediatrician with post doctoral experience in Molecular Biology visited Sankara Nethralaya on January 9, 2005. He gave an interesting presentation about clinical research contract organization and site monitoring organization.

Dr. Nathan Ravi, a polymer scientist and ophthalmologist and Dr. Fischer, an ophthalmologist visited Sankara Nethralaya on January 3rd and 4th , 2005. Dr. Nathan Ravi spoke on Nano-medicines in Ophthalmology.

Dr. David Zee, an eminent neurologist from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States visited Sankara Nethralaya on January 10, 2005. Dr. Zee gave an exhilarating presentation on "Nystagmus and Ocular Oscillations" which was very informative and interesting.

Paramacharya Aradhana

The 11th Aradhana function for Kanchi Paramacharya Shri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi Swamigal was performed at Sankara Nethralaya on January 7, 2005. The Paramacharya, fondly called Mahaperiyava, was the 68th Pontiff of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam.

The function started with the invocation being rendered by Sangeetha Kalanidhi Smt. R. Vedavalli. Dr. S. S. Badrinath, Chairman, Sankara Nethralaya, welcomed the gathering and introduced the Chief Guest, Kalyanapuram Sri Aravamudhachar.

The Chief Guest spoke about the greatness of Mahaperiyava and his influence on many people in India and outside. He spoke about the importance of human values. The function came to a close with the rendition of Mythreem Bajatha, a composition of Mahaperiyava, sung by the late Dr. M. S. Subbulakshmi at the United Nations praying for World Peace.

Coinciding with the Aradhana of Mahaperiyava the employees of Sankara Nethralaya have been donating a days’ salary to Sankara Nethralaya for the last several years. This year, however, the donation collected from the employees was instead delivered to aid the tsunami relief efforts in affected areas of South India.

Newbies

Dr. Narayani Murthy, who has graduate degrees from Columbia University and the University of Michigan, USA has joined the department of Genetics and Molecular Biology at Sankara Nethralaya. Her expertise will bolster our pioneering work in this research area.

Mr. H. D. Malesra, Secretary and Chief Accountant of Sir Ratan Tata Trust has joined the Board of Management of Medical Research Foundation on December 28, 2004. Sir Ratan Tata Trust is partly funding the first phase of our Corpus Fund, to provide free cataract surgery for 10,000 poor patients every year.

Please join us in welcoming both Dr. Murthy and Mr. Malesra onboard.

Tsunami Relief

The enormity of the sufferings and the dire need for reconstruction help has stirred the world into noble action. Like the proverbial squirrel helping Sri Rama to build the bridge across the ocean, the employees of Sankara Nethralaya mobilized a sum of Rs. 5 lakhs as a donation towards a tsunami relief fund.

It was a matter of strange coincidence that when the NDTV team visited Nagapattinam to cover the havoc, they found a 6-month old baby with an eye problem. The child was brought to us in Chennai for a detailed examination and surgery was performed totally free of cost.

High Marks

Sankara Nethralaya, the hospital wing of Medical Research Foundation was the first ophthalmic institution in Asia to get ISO quality certification. The patients who visit the outpatient area or the operating theatres are indeed aware of the stringent quality systems in all aspects of the institution’s operations. Last week, the inspecting agency - BVQI - surveyed the hospital and found that it continues to conform fully to those very high standards.

Milestones & Additions

December 15, 2004 marked the first time in the C.U. Shah Eye Bank's history to have received 1000 eyes in a year.

Auxiliary services have taken up the task of improving the awareness of the public about our LASIK services. Mr. Appadurai, has joined the Refractive Surgery team as its Development Coordinator. Welcome!

Sankara Nethralaya OmTrust welcomes its new committee members - Dr. K .S. Vedantham, Mr. Ubrani Jayaram and Mr. Seshu Badrinath.

EVC & DVC

Executive Vision Care (EVC) is a method developed by SN to bring comprehensive eye examination at the workplace, for the professionals at the corporate level. More than 1,300 professionals from Lister Metropolis, Cognizant Technology Solutions India Pvt. Ltd, Urjita Electronics, Ashok Leyland Finance Limited, IndusInd Bank and Tata Honeywell benefited with EVC in December alone.

Drivers Vision Checkup (DVC) has begun at Navasuja Sankara Nethralaya. On the first day alone 25 drivers from Ashok Leyland came in to have their eyes examined. Ms. Akila, Head of Auxiliary Services can be contacted at akila@sankaranethralaya.org regarding EVC & DVC.

Knowledge Sharing

Dr. E Subramanian, Emeritus Professor of Biophysics, University of Madras gave a guest lecture on December 24, 2004 on the topic of "Managed Care to Molecular Medicine – Bio-Informatics in Clinical Practice."

Essilor at SN

Essilor, India conducted the technical training program for the staff of Optical Services on December 19, 2004 for the first time at Sankara Nethralaya.