omlog: a blog by Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, India!

Staying True to Sankara Nethralaya’s Philosophy

Sankara Nethralaya philosophy states: “Let the word Sankara Nathralaya ever remind me and my associates His Holiness’ command that there be missionary spirit in the project.  Let the world Nethralaya constantly remind me and my colleagues that the place of our work is an alaya.  Work will be our worship which we shall do with sincerity, dedication and utmost love”.

Our Teleophthalmology team recently visited Veedhividangan Village and Karuvilli Village on October 17 & 18 and carried out the camp.  The camp was organized by Vatsalyam -a Service organization.  The team examined 250 numbers of patients.  Sri P. Raman and S. Balachandran sent these following comments on the teleophthalmology team’s performance.

“They have simply conquered the hearts of people not only with their professional skills, but also by their exemplary patience, dedication and commitment.  No organization can achieve its objectives, however noble, unless its personnel wholeheartedly share its ethos.  From the perpetual smile on their faces and unobtrusive style of functioning, it was evident that your team has fully imbibed the organization’s culture.  Clearly it is again a success of your founder and the noble ideas he stands for.”

Inauguration of Vidyasagar Institute of Biomedical Technology and Science

Vidyasagar Institute of Biomedical Technology and Science(VIBS) was inaugurated on 25th October 2006 by Eminent Scientist Prof. M.S. Swminathan, Chairman, M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation. The Vidyasagar Institute of Biomedical Technology and Science is a joint venture of Medical Research Foundation and Sri Vidyasagar Educational Trust. 

Iravatham Mahadevan, founder and chairman, Sri Vidyasagar Educational Trust, contributed a sum of Rs 40 lakh at the function to mark the inauguration of Vidyasagar Institute of Biomedical Technology & Science.  The institution is affiliated to the Birla Institute of Technology and Science and offers MS degree in Medical Biotechnology. It also offers several clinical research and continuing medical education programmes.

Dr. S S Badrinath, Chairman, Medical Research Foundation, Prof. H N Madhavan, Director Research, Vision Research Foundation, Dr. Lingam Gopal, Chairman Elect, Medical Research Foundation, Mr. S Gurumurthy, columnist, Mr. A K Venkatasubramanian, Chairman, Catalyst Trust and Dr. S Venkateswaran, Professor emeritus, BITS, Pilani were also present.

The "oldest" patient of Sankara Nethralaya

On the occasion of World Sight Day, Sankara Nethralya conducted eye screening camp along with Lions Club Central Madras at Vishranthi old age home, Chennai.  The Sankara Nethralaya team was lead by DR Nivedhitha Narayanan.  A total of 105 patients were screened.  Out of this 25 old ladies were bed ridden.  21 patients were diagnosed to have cataract and 41 were prescribed glasses. All of them were above 70 years of age.

Mrs. Saraswathi, an old lady who was examined said, she was 106 years.  She is the oldest person to be examined by Sankara Nethralaya in the last 28 years.  She had cataract in both the eyes.  She, along with the other patients will be brought by Lions Club of Central Madras in batches for surgery and further management.

Seeing the world clearly, at 95

Mrs. Nagammal, aged 95, walked into Sankara Nethralaya’s community ophthalmology centre on September 15 for an eye examination.  She was diagnosed with cataract in both eyes.  After a through examination including ultrasonography was done, she underwent physical examination, was declared fit for surgery and underwent cataract surgery with lens implantation in the left eye on October 6.  She is doing extremely well and has been advised to come on November 20 for examination and evaluation.  Mrs. Nagammal regaled the staff of the hospital about stories of India’s freedom struggle.

Sankara Nethralaya thanks friends, donors and well-wishers who have supported our community services and have helped us help people like Mrs. Nagammal.

Recognizing 20 years of service

Dr. R. Chidambaram from BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre) visited Sankara Nethralaya on 14th October 2006.  He handed over 20 year’s service completion award to Dr. Prema Padmanabhan, Director, Cornea Services on recognition of her service.

Dr Prema Padmanabhan completed her medical graduate degree from Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, in 1978; MS (Ophthalmology) in 1981. She underwent fellowship training in Vitreoretinal surgery between August 1981 and July 1982 in Medical Research Foundation, a unit of Sankara Nethralaya, where she is currently a senior cornea consultant. She has published 75 papers in peer reviewed national and international journals and has also written 3 chapters in various ophthalmic books. She has delivered more than 55 lectures at various national and international conferences as an invited guest speaker. She is the recipient of the Rustom Ranji Award in 1998. Having headed the Cornea Services for the past decade, she has recently handed over charge to Dr. G Sitalakshmi and is currently the Head of the Cataract and IOL Services and Director , Refractive Surgery.

Continuing Education

A training programme for Social Workers of Teleophthalmology and Medical Sociology was held on 14th October 2006 at Sankara Nethralaya.  The training was conducted by Dr.M.Thamilarasan, Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Madras, Mr. Vidyakaar, Founder Chairman, Udavum Karangal and Mr. Harihara Subramaninan, Chairman, Mother India Foundation.  Mr. T. Rathinam, DGM - IT, Mr. V. Murali, Manager, Electronic Communication Department, Mr. A.P. Irungovel, Manager, Medical Sociology Department and Dr. R. R. Sudhir, Consultant of Sankara Nethralaya addressed the gathering.  Such programs help the team at Sankara Nethralaya update their knowledge.

Sankara Ratna Award

Sankara Ratna Award 2005 was bestowed on Sri. S. V. Acharya, Public Defender Service, DC, USA, Honorary Treasurer, Sankara Nethralaya Ophthalmic Mission Trust USA on 14th October 2006 in recognition of his outstanding & dedicated work in support of Sankara Nethralaya through the Sankara Nethralaya Ophthalmic Mission Trust Inc. USA.  Mr. David T. Hopper, Consul General of the United States of America in Chennai presented the award and addressed the gathering.    Padmashri T.H. Vikku Vinayakram music concert ('Sapthaakshara' - Percussion Ensemble) was organized at the end of the function.   

Mr. Acharya is currently working with the Federal Government of the USA as in charge of Budgetary Operations at the Public Defender Service of the District of Columbia. Mr. Acharya is also the founder trustee of the Sankara Nethralaya Ophthalmic Mission Trust founded in 1988, an organization whose mission is to spread information about the work being done by Sankara Nethralaya, in the USA.  Mr. Acharya has helped to organize many fund raising events in the USA to collect donations for Sankara Nethralaya.

CME on Age Related Macular Degeneration

Prof. Prunte from University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland visited Sankara Nethralaya on 9th October 2006. He delivered a talk on AMD.

MS Amma’s 90th birthday

People generally think that a ‘Philanthropist” is someone who donates large amount of money.  But Philanthropy actually means “Love of human kind”.  Therefore in the literal sense of the word Smt. Subbulakshmi fondly called Ms. Amma was one of the greatest philanthropists.  MS Amma's 90th birthday was celebrated at Sankara Nethralaya on 9th October 2006.

Denaturing high performance liquid chromatography

Dr. K.Lily Therese, Reader in Microbiology, Sankara Nethralaya was offered a six Fellowship by Alcon laboratories, Fort Worth, Texas, USA. The training was on Application of Denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (Dhplc) followed by  DNA sequencing technique for rapid species level detection of bacterial and fungal genomes directly from culture negative intraocular fluids of  endophthalmitis patients  and Ribotyping  technique for identifying the bacterial isolates to species and strain level.  She was also honoured with a memento in recognition of the contributions to Ophthalmic Research.

The Photograph was taken during the farewell party attended by Dr. Gerald Cagle, (Senior Vice president R&D) Dr. Barry Schlech,( Vice President, Pharmaceutical Technology & Microbiology and Dr. David Stroman (Director Anti infective laboratory) and all the Microbiology Staff at the Alcon Research Laboratory   FortWorth, Texas, USA. The fellowship offered by Alcon Laboratories, Inc. has further strengthened the collaborative research programmes of Vision Research Foundation.

Quality is our Mantra!

Total Quality Management, shortly known as 'TQM' is a well-proven method for improving the quality in an organization. SN has been into the TQM initiative since 1997 and has few successes. In a continued attempt to improve quality, a programme on 'TQM Tools' for some of the new joiners is organized at Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai. This session was taken by our TQM Guru Dr T V Subramanian.

The NABL audit for Clinical Laboratories was held on 30th Sep and 1st Oct 2006 at Sankara Nethralaya.

Towards “Scientific Ophthalmic Dispensing”

Sankara Nethralaya, a unit of Medical Research Foundation and Essilor signed a landmark MoU to start the “FIRST SCHOOL OF DISPENSING” in India.  In a meeting attended by Dr. S S Badrinath, Chairman, Medical Research Foundation and Mr. Hubert Sagniereres, President, Essilor, North America & Europe, CEO, Essilor of America Inc., Mr. Patrick Cherrier, President, Essilor-Asia Pacific, Mr. Jayanth.B. MD, Essilor India Private Limited  on 3rd October 2006, it was decided to launch a school of dispensing that would incorporate the existing Distance Learning Program for optical sales personnel besides offering certificate courses.

Visitors from Singapore

Mr. Shokyu Nakamura, Managing Director, Calvin Lee, Senior Sales Manager from Topcon South Asia Pte Ltd., Singapore and Mr. Ravi Mehra, Managing Director, Mehra Eyetech Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai visited Sankara Nethralaya on 28th September 2006. 

Giving the website a new face!

Mr. Naveen Lakkur, President and CEO and team from Compassites, Bangalore visited Sankara Nethralaya on 21st September 2006.  They had a meeting with Dr. S.S. Badrinath, Chairman, Dr. Lingam Gopal, Chairman-Elect, Mr. ANL. Madhavann, Chief General Manager and Mr. Murali, Manager, Electronic Communication Department regarding the websites of Sankara Nethralaya.  The Compassites team has come forward to redesign and upgrade the websites of Sankara Nethralaya.