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

Mr. A V Chettiar, Vice President of Mauritius visited Sankara Nethralaya on 15-11-2007

      

Sankara Nethralaya & the government of Mauritius have an agreement whereby, patients with complicated eye problem like Vitreo retinal are sent to Sankara Nethralaya for treatment. His Excellency, Mr. A V Chettiar vice-president, Republic of Mauritius visited Sankara Nethralaya on 15-11-2007. He interacted with some of the Mauritius patients currently undergoing treatment. He was accompanied by Mr. V Raman, from Mauritius Consulate

Visitors from Oman Consulate

Mr Abdullah Mujaini, Dr Abraham Varghes & Mr Ali BinNasser Al Kindi, Health Attache from Oman visited Sankara Nethralaya on 09th November

      

Team from Facor Alloys Ltd Visited Sankara Nethralaya on 02-11-2007

Mr Yogesh Saraf, Joint managing Director of Facor Alloys Ltd, Mrs Yogesh Saraf, Mr R.G.Chari General Manager-South Zone Facor Alloys Ltd & Mr Pankaj Sharaf, GM-Accounts of Facor Alloys Ltd. visited Sankara Nethralaya on 02nd November. They were taken on a hospital tour besides meeting Dr S S Badrinath and other Senior members at the Board Room

         

Team from TCS visited Sankara Nethralaya on 31-10-2007

Sankara Nethralaya has been working in partnership with Tata Consultancy Services to implement the Electronic Medical Records Maintenance system for the past 6 years

                   

Mr. S Balasubramaniaya, Vice president-Global health care practice, Dr Sumanth C Raman, Consultant-health care practice & P K Sivaramakrishnan, Head-delivery center Chennai, had visited SN to explore the possibilities of strengthening the relationship between SN & TCS further in the area of health care in India. They were very happy with the EMR developed with expertise by Sankara Nethralaya & they wished it finds wide use among the ophthalmic fraternity. Dr Lingam Gopal, Chairman-Sankara Nethralaya also impressed upon implementing newer technologies to enable EMR further.

Team from ABL Biotechnologies visited Sankara Nethralaya on 26-10-2007

Mr. Isaac, Chairman & Managing Director, ABL biotechnologies and his colleagues, Dr.Kalpathy Eashwara, President-Research, Dr.P.S.Ganesan, Dr Ajith Kumar and Dr P.V.Ajit visited the Research facility at Sankara Nethralaya on 26-10-2007. Following a tour of the various research departments and labs, Dr H N Madhavan, Director Research, Vision Research Foundation (VRF), made a presentation on “Vision of VRF” to the team from ABL Biotechnologies.

Dr Issac and his team expressed their happiness on visiting Sankara Nethralaya. They also said that they could envision a good number of collaborative topics of mutual interest.

                 

Mr Lakshmi Narayanan of Cognizant Technology Solutions visited Sankara Nethralaya on 05-10-2007

Mr Lakshmi Narayanan of Cognizant Technology Solutions visited Sankara Nethralaya on 05th Oct 07. He was accompanied by Dr Mohan Rajan, alumnus of Sankara Nethralaya. He met Chairman Emeritus & he was taken around various departments followed by a meeting in the Board room, where Dr H N Madhavan gave a presentation on the upcoming NIRVO project.

MR D R Kaarthikeyan IPS, Former Director of CBI Visited Sankara Nethralaya on 28-09-2007

MR. D R Kaarthikeyan IPS, Advisor - Law - Human rights - Corporate affairs, India & Former Director of CBI & Special Director General of CRPF visited Sankara Nethralaya on 28-09-2007. He has served in various capacities in the Indian Government, including postings outside the country.

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Mr Reiner Bielmeier, Vice President Marketing & Sales, Wavelight AG visited Sankara Nethralaya on 26.09.07

Visitor's from Dominican Republic

Mr. Eddy Martinez, Secretary of State, Ms. Evariyel Alegria and Mr. Alfredo Lopez from the Government of Dominican Republic visited Sankara Nethralaya on 21st November 2006.   They discussed on how the Dominician Republic can work with Sankara Nethralaya in the field of patient care, research and education.

“Riboprinter and its applications”

Mr. Micheal Sherriff   Senior Engineer of Dupont company, USA, delivered a lecture on “Riboprinter and its applications” at Sankara Nethralaya on 11th November 2006 to the Basic Medical scientists. The research scientists and the Medical Lab Technology students expressed that the lecture  was informative and useful.

Sankara Nethralaya Alcon relationship

Mr.Donald G.Snyder  Director, Corporate Benefits and Health Services, Alcon laboratories Inc, Fort Worth, TX, USA  and  Dr. Philip Thomas ,Ophthalmologist,  Baptist Mission Hospital ,Bangalore visited Sankara Nethralya on 15th November 2006. They were impressed with the clinical and basic Medical sciences Research work. They appreciated the service rendered to the poor people through Community Ophthalmology and Teleophthalmology programmes conducted by Nethralaya.

Visitor from Sankara Nethralaya OM Trust

Mr. J. Ramray, Director, Fund Raising, American Marrow Foundation, USA and trustee, Sankara Nethralaya OM Trust Inc, USA visited Sankara Nethralaya on 15th November 2006. 

He was taken on tour of the Hospital including Teleophthalmology Department.  He spent time with the Sankara Nethralaya Research team who presented their current projects to him.

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.

Madhya Pradesh CM visits Sankara Nethralaya

Shri. Shivaraj Singh Chouhan, Honourable Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, visited Sankara Nethralaya on 12th September 2006.

Sharing best practices in Telemedicine

Dr. Michael Adeyinka, Director, LBI (Laboratory for Biomedical Information) from The Netherlands visited Sankara Nethralaya on 8th September 2006.  LBI is basically dealing with Medical Imaging, Telemedicine and Telehealthcare (Teleophthalmology and TeleAmbulatory Care) Applications and configurations.  Dr. Adeyinka visited the Sankara Nethralaya Teleophthalmology Department to understand the technology and procedure implemented by Sankara Nethralaya.

Former Chief Justice of India visits Sankara Nethralaya

Mr. M. N. Venkatachaliah, former Chief Justice of India visited Sankara Nethralaya on 29th August 2006.

Karma Yoga – Joy of Work

As part of the extramural lecture series, a talk on “Joy of Work” was organized for Optometrists and Optometry Students on 17th August 2006 at Sankara Nethralaya. 

Dr. K.P. Misra, Senior Cardiologist, Apollo Hospital, Chennai delivered the lecture.  He gave a lively presentation on the 4 yoga’s that lead to happiness, namely Gnana Yoga, Bharthi Yoga, Raja Yoga and Karma Yoga for individuals like us, he explained how karma yoga is the path to happiness.

Visitor

Ms. Aruna Sundararajan, IAS, Chief Executive Officer (Community Service Centre), IL & FS Limited, Department of Information Technology, Government of India visited Sankara Nethralaya on 7th August, 2006.  She was taken to the Teleophthalmology Department and E-Learning division.  She was also explained about the facilities of Sankara Nethralaya.

Visitors

Dr. Kulkarni, Infosys Foundation, Bangalore is visited Sankara Nethralaya on 18th July 2006.  She visited the facilities of the Diabetic Retinopathy Project.  Dr. Padmaja Kumari, Associate Consultant, Sankara Nethralaya made a presentation about the project and shared the findings.  The meeting was also attended by Lion G.V. Raman, a friend & well-wisher of Sankara Nethralaya.

Prof. Anupindi, Associate Professor of Operations Management, Stephen Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, USA, Dr. Mainak Sarkar, Assistant Professor Economics & Finance, International Management Institute, New Delhi and Ms. Madhuchhanda Das Aundhe, Assistant Professor, T.A. Pai Management Institute, Bangalore visitied Sankara Nethralaya on 18th July 2006 to study the Teleophthalmology work by Sankara Nethralaya.

Smt. Panabaka Lakshmi, Honorable Union Minister of State, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi visited Sankara Nethralaya on 17th July 2006. She was taken on tour of the Hospital including the Teleophthalmology Department.

Ms. Maria Hyne, Ophthalmic Consultant, Training and Certification, The Emmes Corporation, USA visited Sankara Nethralaya on 17th July 2006.  They were taken on tour of the hospital including Teleophthalmology Department.

Dr. Devi Shetty, Chairman, Narayana Hrudayalaya, Dr. Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, Vice Chairman, Asia Heart Foundation and a team from Rotary Narayana Sankara Nethralaya, Kolkata visited Sankara Nethralaya on 12th July 2006.  They had a meeting with the chairman Dr S S Badrinath, Dr. Lingam Gopal, Chairman (Elect), Sankara Nethralaya.  They were taken on tour of the Hospital, to see the facilities.

Mr. A.R. Antulay, Central Minister of Minority Affairs visited Sankara Nethralaya on 3rd July. He had eye examination with the Chairman Dr. S. S. Badrinath.

Lt. Col. Nasser Bin Saleem Al Abrawi, Defence Liasion Officer & team from Consulate General of the Sultanate of Oman visited Sankara Nethralaya on 3rd July 2006.  They were taken on tour of the hospital including Teleophthalmology Department.

Prof. Kartar Singh, Director, Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow and family visited Sankara Nethralaya on 25th June 2006.  They were taken to the Teleophthalmology Department and explained about the activities of the mobile unit.

Guest Lecture

Dr. K. Murali from MIOT Hospital visited Sankara Nethralaya on 6th July 2006.  He delivered a talk on "Interventional Radiology (carotid stenosis, CCF & Cavernous hemangioma) 

Dr. Iqbal Ahmad, Professor, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Assistant Dean & Director, Postdoctoral Education, Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, USA visitied Sankara Nethralaya on 29th June 2006.  He delivered a talk on "Activation of Endogeneous Stem Cells / Progenitors in the Mammalian Retina: A Concept of Treating Retinal Degeneration", which was attended by Post Graduates, Basic Research Scientists, Consultants, Scientists from Anna University KBC. He interacted with Dr. S. V. Ramanan of Anna University KBC who is expert in electrophysiology of cells and Dr. Niveditha who is an expert in studying calcium imaging on the cells.

Prof. Michael Webster from University of Nevada, Reno, USA visited Sankara Nethralaya on 26th June 2006.  He worked out modalities of doing  psychophysical experiments on patients who had undergone cataract surgery.  He gave a series of lectures on the fundamentals of color vision.

A day of blessing!

His Holiness Shri Azhagiya Singar Jeeyar Swami of Ahobila Mutt visited Sankara Nethralaya on 29th June 2006.  He extended his blessings to the employees of Sankara Nethralaya.

Evaluation for Special Children

Dr. Linda Lawrence, Paediatric Ophthalmologist from USA visited Sankara Nethralaya on 22nd June 2006.  She was taken on tour of the hospital.  She delivered a talk on "Paediatric Ophthalmology". She is the volunteer for the ORBIS Project, Surgical Eye Expeditions International, Volunteer faculty of the University of Kansas Medical School, USA and on the advisory board of the Kansas Services for the blind and visually impaired. She has also been an instructor for Light House International Paediatric Low Vision Course.  She also conducted a workshop on Evaluation for Special Children at Elite School of Optometry from 20th to 22nd June 2006.

Sony Visits SN

Mr. Yoshitaka Shibasaki, Senior General Manager, Broadcast & Professional Products Division, Sony India Limited, New Delhi and Mr. Ambreesh Dixit, Operation Head - Planning & Marketing, Broadcast & Professional Products Division, Sony India Limited, New Delhi visited Sankara Nethralaya on 14th June 2006.  They had a meeting with the Dr. S. S. Badrinath, Chairman, Sankara Nethralaya. They were taken on tour of the Hospital including Teleophthalmology Department.

Sankara Nethralaya - A model Institution

Professor N. Ravichandran from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad visited Sankara Nethralaya on 15th May 2006 to do a case study about Sankara Nethralaya.  He was taken on a tour of the hospital.  He spent time interacting with Chairman and other employees.

A Guest Lecture

Dr. Quresh B. Maskati, Director, Cornea Services, Maskati Eye Hospital, Mumbai visited Sankara Nethralaya on 14th May 2006.  He delivered a talk on "Asian experience with the Pintucci Kerotoprosthesis".

Visitor from Australia

Mr. Nigel David from Perth, Australia, visited Sankara Nethralaya on 8th and 10th May 2006.  Mr. David was accompanied by Mrs. Thor Hanssen and Mr. Gerry Hanssen from Perth.  Mr. Hanssen, a philanthropist, was interested in seeing the hospital facilities.  They were taken on a tour of the hospital following a meeting with Dr. S. S. Badrinath, Chairman and Dr. Lingam Gopal, Chairman-Elect, Sankara Nethralaya.

Visitor

Mr. Aunali Khalfan, Chairman, Central Health Board, DAR, Tanzania and Dr. J. J. Merali, Medical Director, EHICH and team visited Sankara Nethralaya on 27th April 2006.  They discussed with Dr. Lingam Gopal, Chairman Elect about sending patients with eye complications for treatment to Sankara Nethralaya.

Guest Lecture by Dr. Madhulika Dixit

Dr. Madhulika Dixit, Institute of Cardiovascular Physiology, J.W. Goethe University, Germany visited Sankara Nethralaya and delivered a talk on "Chronic insulin exposure uncovers the Motogenic Capacity of Nitric Oxide on aortic smooth muscle cells" on 6th April 2006.  Her talk focussed on molecular mechanisms related to the pathogenesis of vascular disease in hyperinsulinemic diabetes.

Guest Lecture by Dr. B. M. Hegde

Dr. B. M. Hegde, Retd., Vice-Chancellor, MAHE University, Manipal, visited Chennai on April 6^th and 7^th. Dr. Hegde, a world renowned Cardiologist, has written many books and published many articles on the importance of holistic view and spirituality in Medicine.

He addressed the students of the Elite School of Optometry on 6^th. He spoke on “Has science lost its heart? If so what to do?” His advice to the students was to “THINK” and to be “THINKERS” and not just want to pass the exams. He dwelt on the fact that much energy today in Science, is being focused on proposing a hypothesis and proving it right rather than finding the actual truth. On the following day he addressed the student of Madras Medical College. The topic of his talk was “Low tech bedside medicine is better than Hi tech diagnosis”. During this talk, he emphasized the need to talk with patients and listen to patients. The crux of his argument was that more time is being spent nowadays in doing hi tech diagnostics, but very less time is being spent by physicians actually talking with patients and understanding what their actual problem is.

The same evening he gave a talk to the employees of Sankara Nethralaya. The theme of his talk was on Disease and Wellness. Dr. Hegde stressed on the importance of a holistic approach to well being. This, he said, should be reflected in our minds, thoughts, the food we consume, the exercise and work we do.

Visitors

Dr. S.N. Reddy, Senior Regional Director, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and team visited Sankara Nethralaya on 12th April 2006.  They were taken on a hospital tour and also taken to the Teleophthalmology Department.

Dr. T. Srinivasa Rao, Chief Medical Officer and Dr. R. N. Ramakrishna, Ophthalmologist from Sathish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR(Sriharikota Space Centre) visited Sankara Nethralaya on 17th April 2006.  They were taken on  hospital tour including Teleophthalmology Department.

Mr. Subir Dutta And Team Visits Sankara Nethralaya

Mr. Subir Dutta, Member, Union Public Service Commission, New Delhi and team visited Sankara Nethralaya on March 24, 2006. They were taken on a tour to Sankara Nethralaya Teleophthalmology Department.

Prof. V. K. Murthy Visited Sankara Nethralaya

Prof. V. K. Murthy from S. P. Jain College, Mumbai visited Sankara Nethralaya on March 18, 2006. He had a meeting with our Chairman and was taken on a tour of the hospital. He gave a talk on "Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Fundraising" and "Motivation in an Organization".

Mr. G. G. Joshi, General Manager Of Bank Of Baroda Visited Sankara Nethralaya

Mr. G. G. Joshi, General Manager and team from Bank of Baroda visited Sankara Nethralaya on March 15, 2006. They were taken on a hospital tour and also taken to the Teleophthalmology Department.

Dr. R. M. Moghekar, From Thane, Mumbai Visited Sankara Nethralaya

Dr. R. M. Mogheker, Consulting Ophthalmic Surgeon, Dr. Moghekar's Eye Hospital, Thane and family visited Sankara Nethralaya on March 14, 2006. They were taken on a tour of the hospital including the Teleophthalmology Department.

Dr. Hurriduth Chumun From Mauritius Visited Sankara Nethralaya

Dr. Hurriduth Chumun - MSK, Ex-Nursing Administrator and Responsible Officier of Medical Services, Gayasing Ashram called upon our Chairman Dr. S. S. Badrinath on March 13, 2006.

Vision 2020: The Right To Sight

Mr. P. K. M. Swami, National Executive Director, VISION 2020: The Right to Sight - INDIA, New Delhi visited Sankara Nethralaya on March 13, 2006.

Vision 2020: The Right to Sight is a global initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020. Sankara Nethralaya is a partner in the Vision 2020 initiative in India.

Shri Manish Kantilal Dhakan From Dubai Visited Sankara Nethralaya

Shri Manish Kantilal Dhakan from Dubai visited Sankara Nethralaya on March 13, 2006. He is a donor and well wisher of Sankara Nethralaya.

Ms. Mridula Chettri Singh From Ophthalmology Times Of India Visited Sankara Nethralaya

Ms. Mridula Chettri Singh, Ophthalmology Times India Managing Editor from Ophthalmolgy Times India, Delhi visited Sankara Nethralaya on March 13, 2006. She was taken on a tour of the hospital including the Teleophthalmology.

Guest Lecture by Uday B Kompella

Dr. Uday B Kompella, Ph.D. Associate Professor, from University of Nebraska Medical Center, USA had visited Sankara Nethralaya on March 3, 2006. Much impressed with services being done at the hospital he was back at the hospital on March 10, 2006 for delivering a lecture on 'Nanotechnology in Ophthalmic Drug and Gene delivery'.

Dr. Kompella gave a masterly account of his constructive work on Nanotechnology in his institute. Firstly, the lecture communed on the characterization of different nanoparticles and their properties that are required for conjugation of various drugs to be delivered. Secondly, clinical illustrations were depicted which showed different ways through which a drug can be delivered into the ocular structures. Some of the initial achievements of his work with enough evidence on drug delivery through nanoparticles were shared in the lecture. Animal models have been used for studying the effect of anti-VEGF to block the angiogenesis in created corneal angiogenic animal models. Some of the aspects on gene delivery using nanoparticles was exciting and mind boggling in the lecture. After the lecture the audience clarified several queries with Dr. Uday. Finally the lecture was awe-inspiring and was very useful to all the Postgraduate students, consultants and basic scientists.

Mr. S. B. Garware visited Sankara Nethralaya

Mr. S.B. Garware, Hon. Consul General of the Republic of Turkey and Chairman & Managing Director, Garware Polyester Limited visited Sankara Nethralaya on March 8, 2006. He had a hospital tour and also visited the Teleophthalmology Department.

Nanotechnology At Sankara Nethralaya

Dr. Uday Kompella, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha visited Sankara Nethralaya on March 3, 2006.

Sankara Nethralaya is fast becoming a meeting ground for not only ophthalmologists and vision scientists, but also basic science researchers interested in the field of ophthalmic science. Eminent scientists in varying fields of genetics, biochemistry and nanotechnology have visited Sankara Nethralaya in the recent past to discuss about how these diverse fields can be used to take ophthalmic science to the next plane.

Dr. Uday Kompella, an expert in the field of Nanotechnology visited Sankara Nethralaya on March 3, 2006. He, along with Dr. Bala Ambati, has been mainly working on the use of albumin nanoparticles to prevent corneal angiogenesis. He has published 2 books, one on use of nanotechnology in ophthalmic drug delivery and the other on superstructural engineering in nanotechnology.

Dr. Kompella gave a talk on Nanotechnology applications in ocular drug delivery to the basic scientists of Sankara Nethralaya, including the students doing Ph.D., and basic science faculty. In his talk, he spoke about the making of nanoparticles. He also spoke on the other areas such as tissue engineering and scaffolds and nanorobotics. He visited the different laboratory facilities within Sankara Nethralaya - the genetics, biochemistry, pathology, and microbiology labs.

He showed a great interest in the facilities at Sankara Nethralaya and the opportunities they created to do bench work with the scientists. He  voiced an interest to collaborate with the Sankara Nethralaya team and said that he welcomed suggestions on projects. These are indeed exciting times for Sankara Nethralaya and the research team.

Memorandum Of Understanding (MoU)

An advanced research laboratory for  Genotyping and Molecular Genetics is being established at the Jayalakshmi Estates, Haddows road as a unit of the National Institute for Research in Vision sciences and Ophthalmology, Vision Research Foundation.

Towards its progress, Vision Research Foundation today has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Biox Cel Corporation, USA, to explore the advanced research potential of Vision Research Foundation to achieve an Unique Global Status in Ophthalmic Research with a view to make this potential available to research divisions of Research institutes and pharmaceutical and biotechnology Industries.

( Dr. S.S. Badrinath, Mr. V. Vaithyanathan, Dr. Lingam Gopal, Prof. H.N. Madhavan, Mr. Narayanan, Dr. S. Bhaskaran, Mr. Krishnan Nandabalan, president, Biox Cel corporation and Dr. Tarun Sharma)

A Spiritual Evening at Sankara Nethralaya

His Holiness Sri Sri Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji from Avadhoota Datta Peetham Ashramam, Mysore visited Sankara Nethralaya on 13th February 2006. Swamiji shared information about his ashram and the activities of the ashram. He gave Anugraha bashanam in serene and a simple function organized by Sankara Nethralaya. He also gave blessings and prasadam to the employees.

For more details please read link

Technical Training Session on Teleophthalmology

Technical Training Session on Teleophthalmology at Sankara Nethralaya on 10th & 11th February 2006. Hand on Training was given on video conferencing, software and hardware, mode of conncetivity etc. Technical persons from Bejan Singh Eye Hospital, Nagercovil,Shri Ganapathy Netralaya, Jalna, Eye Foundation, Coimbatore and Vishaka Eye Hospital, Vizag participated in the session.

(Mr. Hanumathran - Vishaka Eye Hospital, Vizag, Mr. Mandalik - Shri. Ganapathy Netralaya, Jalna,Mr. Stephen - Bejan Singh Eye Hospital, Nagercovil, Mr. Kumaraswamy - Eye Foundation, Coimbatore intracting with Mr. Eswaran, Pan communication dealer of Sony Videoconference System)

It's Paedriatic month at Sankara Nethralaya!!!!!

Dr. Richard Saunders from STORM EYE INSTITUTE, Charleston, South Carolina, USA visited Sankara Nethralaya as a part of Hospital Based program organized by ORBIS on February 2, 2006. He visited the Paediatric Ophthalmology Department, and along with post-graduate students of Ophthalmology and Optometry examined the children in the department. He discussed the cases in detail with our fellows and clarified all their doubts.

Patients selected for surgery were evaluated. They were operated in the subsequent days by him. The fellows took turns in assisting Dr. Saunders. He visited the post-operative wards and examined patients.

Dr. Saunders also conducted classes for students of Sankara Nethralaya, covering topics of critical importance to children like Ambylopia, Inermittent divergent squint (outward turning of the eye, Congenital Ptosis (drooping of the upper eyelid), Visual Evaluation and Prescription of Spectacles in children.

He also conducted a Lecture on Lacrimal disorders in children for all the fellows and post-graduates of Sankara Nethralaya.

Sri. B.S. Raghavan, IAS (Retd.) visited Sankara Nethralaya

Dr. S.S. Badrinath, Sri. B.S. Raghavan, IAS (Retd.), Dr. K. Ravishankar, Dr. J. Biswas, Mr. A.P. Irungovel, Mr. Mahaligam. Mr. V. Murali gave an presentation about Teleophthalmology.

Dr. Balaji Srinivasan visited Elite School of Optometry

Dr. Balaji Srinivasan, Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai visited Elite School of Optometry on 21st January 2006. He gave a lecture on "Trends in Optical Telecommunication".

Sudha K. Iyengar, USA visited Sankara Nethralaya

Sudha K. Iyengar, Associate Professor, Division of Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology School of Medicine, Case - Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA visited Sankara Nethralaya on 16th January 2006. She completed her Ph. D in 1992 at University of Pittsburgh in the Research Area - Genetics of Complex Human Disorders. She is currently working on mapping quantitative trait loci associated with ocular disorders in  a population from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, end - stage renal disease and speech - sound disorders. She is a member of several large consortia to map genes for complex traits such as diabetic nephropathy, diabetic retinopathy and sarcoidosis. The purpose of her visit is to help us in stratifying the samples and study design for the project on understanding the Genetics of complex eye diseases like the adult onset Cataract angle closure Glaucoma Diabetic Retinopathy and ARMD (Age Related Macular Degeneration).

Mr. Shyam Sundar Singh visited Sankara Nethralaya

Mr. Shyam Sundar Singh, Alumnus of Elite School of Optometry, currently practicing in Toronto, Canada gave a presentation on "Presbyopia - Latest trend in management" on 13th January 2006 for Elite School of Optometry Students.

Dr. ARYA, Director of Medical Services visited Sankara Nethralaya

Dr. ARYA, Director of Medical Services, General Health & Team, Government of Uttaranchal visited Sankara Nethralaya on 11th January 2006. They were taken for a hospital tour.

Visitors

A Team of Faculty and Students from Cornell University college of agriculture and Life Sciences visited Sankara Nethralaya on 6th January 2006. Cornell University, located in Ithaca, New york, USA is one of the world's leading universities providng education to students under the able guidance of Internationally recognized faculty in their respective fields.

Honourable Chief Minister of Tripura Mr. Manik Sarkar visited Navasuja Sankara Nethralaya as a patients on 8th January 2006. He was very happy regarding the service offered to him by Sankara Nethralaya. Mr. V. Murali and Mr. G. Sivaraman gave a presentaion on Teleophthalmology.

Swami Viruurthananthar, Editor fo the journal Shri. Ramakrishna Vijayam, Shri Ramakrishna Mutt, Mylapore visited Teleophthalmology on 8th January 2006.

Dr. R.S. Dwivedi, Microbiologist from Hongkong visited Teleophthalmology on 9th January 2006.

Ennangalin Sangamam program by Dept. of Medical Sociology

Dept. of Medical Sociology jointly organized a meeting with Nalloor Vattam on 8th January 2006 (Sunday). The theme was Ennangalin Sangamam (Unity of thoughts for good social causes). There are 120 voluntary social workers participated the program.

Our Cheif Executive Officer Dr. K. Ravishankar inaugurates the program by lighting the kuthu vilakku and delivered welcome address & talk about Sankara Nethralaya including Rural Eye Hospital Operation Theatre inauguration.

Our Chairman Dr. S. S. Badrinath & Director Lab Services Dr. Vasanthi Badrinath a released a hand book " Ennangalin Sangamam " and the first copies received by Shri Uttam Raj - Founder of Seva Barathi Blood Bank, Shri Ragavan - Founder of Gayathri Trust, Shri Muthiah - Teacher from Thenkasi & Shri Sridhar - Founder of Mythri Educational & Charitable trust.

The CD on our Tele - ophthalmology projects and movie on eye donations starring Shri. Rajinikanth screened on this occasion.

Swami Vimuurthananthar, Editor of the journal Shri Ramakrishna vijayam, Shri. Ramakrishna Mutt, Mylapore was the chief guest and delivered a lecture on SEVA.

There was four themes discussed and team members presented their views on

Blood Donation & Eye Donation

Developments of villages

Home for orphans, Elders & Mentally retarded peoples

Education

The function on went on well and it was over followed by vote of thanks by Shri. A.P. Irungovel.

Sir Ratan Tata Team visited Sankara Nethralaya

Mr. Hoshang D. Malestra, Dr. Sudeep Singh Gadok and Mr. Arun Pandhi from Sir Ratan Tata Trust, Mumbai visited Sankara Nethralaya on 3rd January 2006. The team visited the various centres of Sankara Nethralaya in Chennai including the Special clinic for Computer Users at Navasuja Sankara Nethralaya, the Teleophthalmology department and the Elite School of Optometry besides the Jaslok Community Ophthalmology Center. The spent time understanding the runing of the Sir Ratan Tata Fellowship for training in cataract surgery and met the past and present fellows.

Bhutan team visits Sankara Nethralaya

A team of doctors deputed by the Royal Government of Bhutan's Ministry of Health visited Sankara Nethralaya on Wednesday the 14th of December 2005 to strengthen and build a strong relationship between Nethralaya and Bhutanese Hospitals for the benefit of future patients from Bhutan. The team in the above picture along with Col. Raghavan, Mr. Murali and Mr. Shivaraman P.R.O. at the Teleophthalmology department.

Hon'ble Minister for Health Mr. Fagoo of Mauritius

Ever since Sankara Nethralaya went into an agreement with Mauritius government way back in February 2001, the relationship continues to flourish till date. In order to provide plus to our Mauritius patients’, Sankara Nethralaya has taken several steps with a singular objective: to make these patients feel always at home, though they are thousand miles away from home!

The Hon'ble Minister for Health - Government of Mauritius, Mr. Fagoo along with Mr. Raman the Consul General of Mauritius in India visited Sankara Nethralaya on 2nd December 2005 and interacted with the Mauritius patients and was taken on a conducted tour of the Hospital. Seen in the above picture along with our Chairman Dr. S.S. Badrinath, Dr. Lingam Gopal and Chief Executive Officer Dr. K. Ravishankar in discussion along with Mr. A. Krishnan - General Manager, Mr. T. Rathinam - Dy. General Manager and Mr. Sivaraman - P.R.O.

Visitors

Prof. Wang Qinmei MD, Executive Director and his team from The Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College School of Optometry & Ophthalmology, W.M.C., China, visited our project on 6th October 2005.

February Visitors

Dr Eziani, Registrar of Medical Council of Nigeria visited SN & JCOC on February 1, 2005. He wrote: "Grateful for the hospitality. Enthralled at the great advancement in ophthalmology and the services being rendered. Hopeful of opportunities for collaboration with Nigeria."

Mr. A.D. Deshpande, Chairman of LIONS NAB Eye Hospital, Miraj visited Sankara Nethralaya Orbis Pediatric Ophthalmology Department on February 3, 2005.

Mr. Sudipto Saha visited our hospital on 9th and 10th of this month to evaluate the SRT fellowship program. He appreciated the overall functioning of the organization.

Sri Somnath Chatterjee, Lok Sabha Speaker came for a consultation on February 11, 2005.

Cross-border Training

Md. Nursolaman, from Chittagong Eye Infirmary and Training Complex, Pahartali, Chittagong, Bangladesh was here for training under the Orbis Fellowship Program.

In his words:

"It is a great experience for me that I could process some specimens that we don’t get in our hospital in Bangladesh. For example; CSF, FNAC, Bone Marrow, Bronchial wash etc. Whatever I learnt in the Department of Microbiology at Sankara Nethralaya will be very useful for me and I shall implement it in my hospital and patients will be benefited!"

He was deputed for training under a training program sponsored by Orbis. Mr. Nursolaman underwent training at our L&T Microbiology Lab from October 2004 – January, 2005.

January Visits

On January 21, Mr. P. Waney & Ms. Rebecca of Mission for Vision Trust, United Kingdom and Dr. F. Barry Brown & Ms. Yvonne Brown from University of Saskatchewan, Canada visited us.

Also on the 21st, Mr. K. Gopal, senior congressman & former MP on talked about India - before & after Independence at Sankara Nethralaya's Elite School of Optometry. It was one of the most highly interactive sessions in the recent past.

Dr. Supriyo Ghose, Professor of Ophthalmology & Chief of Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences - All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) visited Sankara Nethralaya's pediatric ophthalmology department as an in-country Guest faculty on January 28 and 29th.

Republic Day

Mr. A.S.Krishnamurthy, Retired Deputy Controller and Auditor General of India, was the Chief Guest at the Republic Day celebrations at Sankara Nethralaya. Ten-year service awards to the employees and merit scholarships for employees’ children were distributed on the occasion.

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.

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."

Pushing Pixels

Mr. Prakash Subramaniam, Technical Development Manager, FUJIFILM Australia visited Sankara Nethralaya. He presented a talk on the effective use of digital cameras. He covered the history of photography and digital electronics and the convergence of technology. There was an interactive session, where the multimedia team, the medical photography team and medical consultants had their doubts clarified. The questions covered exposure, timing, red eye defects in photographs, types of cameras and their application.

ESO Visitors

On October 5, Mr. Aditya Goyal (an alumnus of Sankara Nethralaya's Elite School of Optometry) brought ten students from Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Institute to the Elite School of Optometry.

Dr. Brian Anderson, New Zealand

Dr. Brian Anderson, Associate Professor and Anesthesiologist and Intensivist, Starship Hospital, New Zealand visited our hospital facility. He visited the Anaesthesia, the Paediatric Ophthalmology department, and the Genetics department and was very impressed. He was surprised that we adapt modern techniques of the West to the Indian scenario. He seems to have also mentioned his delightful experience to almost everyone he met during his brief stay in Chennai.

He was here to deliver the fifth Millenium Oration on "Pitfalls in Sedation and Analgesia in the PICU," at the National Paediatric Intensive Care Conference Organized by The Child’s Trust Hospital. In fact, he made a special mention of his visit to Sankara Nethralaya to that august gathering. As an editorial board member of the Journal Paediatric Anaesthesia he encouraged us to publish our research findings.

Speakers, Teachers

Dr. Madhavan Swaminathan, Ph.D, Professor and Deputy Director, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA gave a talk on "Emerging Field of Nanotechnology – Application in Medical Science" on August 17, 2004.

Pujya Shri Ramesh Bhaiji Oza, a renowned and well respected Bhagavat Gita exponent visited Sankara Nethralaya on August 23, 2004 and gave an inspiring speech to the well-wishers and Employees of Nethralaya.

Recent Visits to SN

Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Hon’ble Mr. Ramchandra Kapse along with the Chief Secretary, Mr. Bhatt, IAS visited Sankara Nethralaya to see the Tele-ophthalmology project on Monday, 12th July 2004. Sankara Nethralaya will set up a Telemedicine Project in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

Dr. Deepak Edward, Associate Professor & Vice Chairman of University of Illinois, USA visited Sankara Nethralaya and gave a lecture on “Nerve Wracking Discs – Is it Glaucoma or not?”

Dr. William Good, Pediatric Ophthalmologist from California Medical Center, San Francisco, USA paid a visit to Sankara Nethralaya and gave a lecture on “Retinopathy of Prematurity & Cortical Visual Impairment.”