AAO
Sankara Nethralaya’s head of Binocular Vision becomes first Indian to be conferred with a ‘Diplomate’ in her niche field by the AAO.
In a development that placed Sankara Nethralaya’s head of Binocular Vision and her institution right at the top slot, the American Academy of Optometry(AAO) the world leader in the field conferred its coveted ‘Diplomate’ in Binocular Vision, Perception and Pediatrics on Dr Rizwana, Assistant Professsor, Elite School of Optometry.The high academic recognition comes as yet another major milestone covered and a bright jewel in the crown for a passionate researcher, student,teacher and irrepressible explorer who has such diverse credits as, being chosen by the Department of Education & Training, Australia High Commission, as ‘Australia Award- Endeavour Ambassador’ to spearhead collaborative research and education between the two nations, a Doctorate by the BITS Pilani for her exhaustive paper on ‘Binocular vision care for children’, the clinician who played a pivotal and pioneering role in the creation of TRYe (Train your eye) a first of its kind vision therapy software for amblyopia and the establishment of a ‘Special Children’s clinic’ for children who need special attention and functional assessment, at the Sankara Nethralaya main campus.
With Dr. John Tassinari (chair of the BVPPO section), and Dr. Ronald Gall (One of the examiners)
It was the glorious culmination of an eventful three year journey for Ms Rizwana who enrolled into the Diplomate process at the AAO in 2015, as she was declared a ‘Diplomate in Binocular Vision, Perception, Pediatrics and Optometry’(BVPPO) at San Antonio, on the 8th of November 2018.It is noteworthy to mention here that she was guided by the legendary Dr Mitchell Scheiman, Dean of the Salisbury University. The award highlights the recipient and her institution’s pioneering role in the fields of recognition in the certification and promises to take awareness creation and collaborative learning in these fields to the next level!
The Sankara Nethralaya family expresses its hearty congratulations and puts its hands together for a standing ovation to its dynamic member!
It was a touching moment for the SN family and the winner when Professor Dr B.R.Natarajan an alumnus of BITS Pilani shared her journey and achievements in a passionate one page write-up.
We take great pleasure in sharing the same below
Dr BR Natarajan’s write-up
A moment of crowning glory and global challenges for Sankara Nethralaya’s head of contact lens department
When winning awards and accolades become a matter of habit and recognition knocks the door at regular intervals, keeping track and giving an account of the same becomes a challenge by itself as the following report would indicate.
We are thrilled to share that the IACLE global member newsletter has just broken the great news that Dr Rajeswari Mahadevan has been elected as a member of the ‘Executive Board’, of the International Association of Contact Lens Educators’ IACLE, the highest forum of the global body dedicated to education and safe usage of Contact Lens.
It has been a remarkable journey in the field of her passion for Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan, the Head of Sankara Nethralaya’s Contact lens department and Assistant Professor at the Elite School of optometry, with milestones embellishing every insightful length of her travel; the 2nd Indian to be awarded a doctorate in optometry and the first to be awarded so in the field of contact lens, she went on to become a Fellow of the Scleral Lens Education Society, was recognized as the ‘Contact Lens Educator of the Year’ by the International Association of Contact Lens Educators’ (IACLE) which was followed by a Fellowship by the prestigious American Academy of Optometry (AAO). If being chosen as the ‘Asia Pacific Regional President of IACLE’ in year 2016 came as a challenge for taking awareness levels, education and best practices on safe contact lens usage to the next stage, the premium body electing her as a member of the ‘Executive board’ is a strong testimonial to her work as the Asia Pacific Region President and an invite to duplicate it at the global level!
Let us join hands in a thunderous applause for the high level of awareness and understanding on contact lens and its usage that Dr Rajeswari Mahadevan has been creating among users and practitioners and the pride and prestige that she has been steadily bringing to the institution and on herself.