Sankara Nethralaya. A Mission For Vision

S.Suganya a first year student of B.Sc Medical Laboratory Technology at the Sankara Nethralaya Academy has brought pride to the institution by winning the ‘Tamil Essay’ competition being conducted as part of the Chennai Science Festival 2012 by the Science City, Department of Higher Education, Government of Tamil Nadu. She will receive the award at the valedictory function to be held on the 30th of January 2012 at the Anna-Gem Park Science School, Chennai.

Collaborative research between Sankara Nethralaya and US based Stem Cell Corporation in the field of stem cell therapy has made a significant headway in the area of corneal transplant, an area of ophthalmic care where a huge gap between availability and need had been a long standing problem.  This new technique of developing corneal tissues through human embryonic stem cells and unfertilized eggs developed by the joint effort of scientist working in the labs of Stem Cell Corporation in the USA and Sankara Nethralaya promises to bridge this gap by eliminating the dependence on human cadavers. This revolutionary finding would be subjected to clinical tests on animals followed by clinical tests on humans to further substantiate its efficacy before it becomes a reality in corneal transplants.

Times of India

‘Bengal Leads’ an ambitious initiative by the government of West Bengal under the stewardship of Honourable Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to put the State on the fast track to growth and development was organized on the 9th of January, 2012 at the Milan Mela, Trade Fair Complex, Kolkata. The high power function meant to draw fresh investment and enhance industrial and infrastructural growth of the State through participation from local and overseas industrialists was presided over by the Honourable Chief Minister in the presence of her Cabinet Colleagues and senior bureaucrats. The function was attended by local industrialists and representatives of trade and commerce from the USA, UK, Germany, Japan and China.

Sankara Nethralaya which enjoys immense goodwill among the local people for its significant eye care initiatives in the State through its premier ophthalmic institutions since 2002 launched its new project on this momentous occasion. The Silanyas of its 4th eye care center to come up at a sprawling area at Rajarhat which would include a hospital, learning center and research facilities was performed by Honourable Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on this momentous occasion. Dr SS.Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus, Dr.S.Bhaskaran, Chairman, Dr Vasanthi Badrinath, Director, Laboratory Services, Sankara Nethralaya and Dr. Sujatha Guha, Medical Director, Dr Sagar Bhargava, Deputy Director, Ms. Rita Das, Administrator and members of the advisory committee from Aditya Birla Sankara Nethralaya were present at the function.

The Sunday Indian January 9, 2012

AITMC News January 9, 2012

The 18th Aradhana of the Mahaperiyava of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam was celebrated at the Sri VD Swami Auditorium on the 3rd of January, 2012 with the piety and religious fervour befitting the occasion. Delivering the welcome note Dr AR.Karthik, Fellow, Post DNB observed that it is the divine guiding force and Anugraha of Periyava that has made Sankara Nethralaya a premier institution today, he thanked devotional singer Shri Vijaya Shiva for accepting our invitation in short notice and making himself available for the occasion. The function began with an invocation song by Shri Vijaya Shiva followed by the chanting of Vidhyarthis by purohits from the Veda padasala. A token donation from Sankara Nethralaya employees was handed over to Dr. S.Bhaskaran, Chairman on the occasion

Dr Vasanthi Badrinath welcomed and introduced the day’s chief guest Srimathi Prema Krishnamurthy and recalled the long association that she and Dr SS.Badrinath had with her family. She highlighted the social and spiritual services of Srimathi Prema Krishanmurthi like providing food at cost to the underprivileged, spreading awareness on Sanatana dharma, giving free Sanskrit classes to anyone desirous of learning the ancient language or doing Namavali with village children, simple acts which upheld high values in the true tradition of the Mahaperiyava.

Chief Guest of the occasion Srimathi Prema Krishnamurthy delivered a most heart warming speech, a speech which as rightly pointed out by Dr. Karthik brought out her sheer command over Sanskrit, English, Hindi and Tamil. She observed that the fact that we lived during the time of the great sage of Kanchi was by itself a great blessing. Her speech touched on a broad spectrum of subjects from present societal values to the path to God, she underlined her points by drawing on simple and even humorous anecdotes from the life of the Mahaperiyava as witnessed in person by a bhaktha, which transformed the audience to another age and another world.

The Chief Guest’s address was followed by a poignant audio presentation of the Sage of Kanchi in various avatars and places with the playing of a soul stirring song rendered in his honour by late Srimathi Gowri Sivaraman an ex-employee of Sankara Nethralaya in the background. Dheepa Arathanai was performed to the accompaniment of the traditional Arathi song the Sankara Nethralaya Anthem. The function ended with the employees offering flowers and Namaskarams at the feet of Mahaperiyava and distribution of Prasadam.

Pramukhswami Medical College the first private medical college of Gujarat located at Karamsad near Anand celebrated its 25th Anniversary on 25/12/2011 in a grand manner. The institute chose to honour the past Deans of the college who had rendered meritorious service towards its growth and 4 students of outstanding academic excellence who had passed out of its portals since its inception on this momentous occasion.

It is a matter of great pleasure and pride to the Sankara Nethralaya family that Dr Gandhi Rashmin Anil Kumar, Director Sankara Nethralaya Academy and E-Learning was among the 4 past students selected for this high recognition. The award was given away by the Honourable Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Narendra Modi in the presense of the Honourable Health Minister of Gujarat Shri Jayanarayan Vyas.

We congratulate Dr Gandhi for this great recognition and the pride it has brought to Sankara Nethralaya and wish him many more accolades and distinctions in the future.

The annual ICICI-CNBC-TV-18 healthcare awards with a huge participation of 4000 hospitals from across the country, a highly distinguished, multi-discipline jury and scientific evaluation parameters has emerged as among the most comprehensive and authoritative verdicts of the healthcare sector. This year’s award ceremony was held on December 22nd at the Taj Palace, New Delhi presided over by Shri Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare.

Sankara Nethralaya was adjudged as the ‘Best Hospital in Ophthalmology’ in the Best Single Specialty Hospital category for the second year in succession. Dr. S. Bhaskaran, Chairman, received the award on behalf of Sankara Nethralaya.

Abha Gupta is tired of people telling her that she looks exhausted. She says she gets enough sleep, but the dark circles under her eyes make her look old. Gupta tried several home remedies — keeping slices of cucumber and used tea bags on eyelids and applying a variety of oils. “Nothing works,” says the 27-year-oldtechie, who works for a software company in Chennai.

Though dark circles are not a medical problem, treating it can be tough as there could be several contributory factors. “It could be hereditary,” says Dr Shubhra Goel, who works for the department of oculoplasty and aesthetics at Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai. Most people think dark circles are signs of tiredness, lack of sleep or alcoholism. But doctors say these factors can contribute, but are not always the cause. Now Sankara Nethralaya is planning a study on 1,200 people in the 15-45 age group to identify the causes. The findings, she hopes, will help them figure out treatment protocols.

Research shows that aging can increase chances of getting dark circles. With age, the skin becomes thinner and the dilated blood vessels under the eye begin to show as dark circles. Sometimes, medications like harmone pills can worsen the condition. At Sankara Nethralaya, doctors use various methods to treat dark circles. The non-surgical methods include treatment with Botox, dermal fillers,chemical peels, radiofrequency skin tightening, dermabrasion and use of ‘anti-aging’ products.

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Dr Padmaja Sankaridurg a well known vision scientist and expert in the area of Corneal infections among contact lense wearers delivered a lecture on ‘Myopia Control- Where are we now” at the Sri VD Swami Auditorium, Sankara Nethralaya. It would be of interest to readers that Dr Padmaja Sankaridurg is among the first batch of students to pass out of the Elite School of Optometry; she is currently an Associate Professor at the School of Optometry, New South Wales and heads Myopia Research at the Brien Holden Vision Institute, Sydney besides being its Manager, Intellectual Property.

Dr Padmaja Sankaridurg has several publications and four Patents to her credit. The lecture on myopia was well attended by students from Sankara Nethralaya and independent optometry practitioners from the city and was also web cast.

Passing out students of the 1st batch of Hospital Management course meet
Dr SS.Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus, Sankara Nethralaya

The first batch of students of the 10 weekend certificate program in Hospital Management conducted by the MMA&TSNA passed out successfully on 24th December 2011. The students belonging to mid and senior level management positions from a broad spectrum of health care institutions ranging from multinational diagnostic centers to multi-specialty hospitals found the course to be of great relevance to their vocation in terms of enhancing their skill sets, equipping them to handle direct and related healthcare issues and to organize their departments much better.

While the course won overall praise for its holistic approach to hospital management, in-depth, wide and well researched content and professional levels of tutoring by the faculty, TSNA staff members won praise and admiration for their efforts in making the entire learning experience very pleasant and memorable.

The Tamil month of ‘Margazhi’ has traditionally been marked by devotional music and prayer, a time to invoke the Almighty through music and songs; it is a period when temple corridors to drawing rooms come alive with the chanting of mantras and rich devotional music right from dawn. So it was in the fitness of things that the Vision Research Foundation made an auspicious and melodious beginning to its fund raising efforts on the first day of Margazhi with an enthralling violin concert by Maestro Shri TN.Krishnan accompanied by Shri Sriram Krishnan and Srimathi Viji Krishnan. The music and dinner program organized to create awareness on its activities and raise funds for the Vision Research Foundation’s corpus fund was held on the 17th of December, 2011 at the Mauve&Lilac room at the Raintree Hotel.

Mrs. Akila Ganesan, GM, Sankara Nethralaya the MC for the evening extended a warm welcome to the distinguished guests, the performers for the evening and senior officials of Sankara Nethralaya including Dr SS.Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus. The evening’s proceedings got off with an informal meeting between the guests and the hosts, after a round of greetings and exchanging pleasantries it was time for the concert and the guests were treated to a mellifluous flow of music from the violin strings of the Krishnan trio after which they dispersed for dinner.

After some soul stirring music and dinner it was  time for some food for thought and this was provided in plenty through an impressive presentation of the growth, achievements and goals of the Vision Research Foundation by Dr Ronnie George its Director and Dr. Ananthkumar Badrinath, Reader, Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology  who underlined the need for focused, India centric research in various branches of Ophthalmology and the need to raise funds to support this highly critical initiative undertaken by the Vision Research  Foundation.

The Vision Research Foundation plans to hold such awareness creation and fund raising functions at regular intervals to educate the people on its mission and create a corpus fund to meet its objectives.