Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan
Sankara Nethralaya Hosts 5th Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan Memorial Scientific Session
Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan, affectionately known as Dr. Raji, remains a distinguished name in the field of contact lens practice in India. With a remarkable career spanning over two decades, she gained international recognition for her pioneering contributions to contact lens innovations and specialty practices in the country. In 2020, Sankara Nethralaya established the “Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan Memorial Contact Lens Oration” on her birthday, September 9.
The 5th Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan Memorial Scientific Session was held on August 17th and 18th, 2024. The event started with an online quiz competition designed for optometry undergraduates. The online quiz contest saw enthusiastic participation from around 14 optometry colleges, with students actively engaging in the competition. The quiz was conducted by Ms. Varsa Harinya, Mr. Krishna Shah, Mr. Ronit Dutta, and CL postgraduate and fellowship students Mr. Sayak and Mr. Mrityunjoy.
The following day keynote speeches and research presentations focused on contact lenses were featured, with more than 150 registrations from optometry students, faculty, and contact lens practitioners from various parts of the country. Dr. Girish Shiva Rao, President and Executive Medical Director of the Medical Research Foundation and Dr. N. Anuradha, Principal of Elite School of Optometry shared fond memories of Dr. Raji. This year, the session was graced by the presence of Ms. Lakshmi Shinde, CEO of the Optometry Confederation of India, who delivered the keynote address on “Contact Lens Fitting Approach in Ectatic Cornea.” This was followed by a case-based learning session by the SN CL Team, showcasing various types of contact lens fittings for ectatic cornea, complemented by impressive videos and clinical images presented by Ms. Akshaya Balakrishnan, Mr. Ronit Dutta, and Ms. S. Karpagavalli.
The scientific session featured 12 oral presentations from different optometry colleges, which were evaluated by Ms. Lakshmi Shinde and Dr. Rashima Asokan, Head of Occupational Optometry Services at Sankara Nethralaya.
New contests introduced this year, such as the E-poster and Poster Slam Contest on “What Best I Did for My Patient,” were well received by participants. The judging panel was composed of esteemed professionals including Mr. Yeshwant Saoji, Mr. Prasad Sawanth, and Dr. Rashima Asokan.
An interactive session on “Various Contact Lens Options for Myopia Control,” presented by Ms. S. Madhumathi, was followed by a brief talk on Orthokeratology by Ms. Manju, along with a live demonstration of Ortho-K lenses by Ms. Madhumathi, Ms. Manju, Mr. Krishna Shah, and Ms. Varsa Harinya. The session concluded with insightful presentations on Orthokeratology and Scleral Lenses by V Square Medi Solutions and Global OK Vision.
The event also honored outstanding participants with several awards:
- Best Oral Presentation: Ms. Sindhu Vaishnavi from The Sankara Nethralaya Academy (TSNA) and Ms. P. V. Gayathri from SRM Medical College.
- Best Scientific E-Poster: Ms. Diksha Rathi from The Sankara Nethralaya Academy.
- Best Scientific Photography: Mr. Sanjay Ghoia and Mr. Kamalesh from Sankara College of Optometry.
- Best Poster Slam Winner: Mr. Manish Bhagat, Consultant Optometrist, LVPEI.
- Scientific Quiz Winner: Vidyasagar School of Optometry and Vision Science, Kolkata.
- Rapid Fire Quiz Winner: Mr. Sunny Kant from The Sankara Nethralaya Academy.
- Overall, the session was met with high appreciation, sparking numerous stimulating discussions and receiving positive feedback from delegates. It was truly an inspiring and productive event, befitting the legacy of Dr. Raji.
Dr.Rajeswari Mahadevan Memorial Scientific Session – First Physical Conference, 2023
Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan is a name that is etched in the field of contact lens practice in India. Fondly remembered as Dr. Raji, with two decades of experience in the field of contact lens and international acclaim, she had been a trendsetter in various innovations in CL practice and specialty CL practice in India. In her fond memory, Sankara Nethralaya initiated “Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan Memorial Contact Lens Oration” on her birthday, September 9 since 2020.
The 4th Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan Memorial Scientific Session was held on September 9th and 10th, 2023. On the 9th of September, an online quiz competition was conducted exclusively for optometry undergraduate students. On the 10th of September, the event transitioned to the first physical conference in the last 4 years, showcasing the keynote speeches and research presentations centered on the field of contact lenses. We have received around 145 registrants, out of which 83 were external registrants and 62 were in-house registrants.
We had 10 optometry Colleges who had enthusiastically participated in an online Quiz contest which was engaging for the students. We had 12 oral scientific papers and case reports from various optometry colleges and contact lens practitioners.
This time, we had eminent international and national speakers addressing in a hybrid mode – “Unveiling the advancements in scleral lens practice by Ms Daddi Fadel, Clinical Scientist –Centre for Ocular Research and Education, University of Waterloo, Canada. Independence Contact lens practice by Mr. Yeshwant Saoji, Senior Optometrist, Saoji Vision Care Nagpur and the Research opportunities in Contact lens by Dr. Jaya Sowjanya Siddireddy, Lecturer, University of Canberra, Australia and by Dr. Pradipta Bhattacharya, Postdoctoral fellow at University of Houston, Australia. The response and the feedback that was received for each talk were remarkable.
There were oral scientific presentations, e-posters, and scientific reviews presented by many delegates from across the country. All the contests were judged by judges from India including Mr. Yeshwant Saoji, Dr. Anuradha N, Dr. Krishna Kumar R, Mr. Nilesh Thite Executive Manager of Educations programs at IACLE, Optom Irene Sophia, who evaluated the entries. This year’s panel discussion was newly initiated and moderated by Mr. Yeshwant Saoji, Senior optometrist, Ms. Vandana Kamath, HOD and Assistant Professor Sankara college of Optometry Bengaluru, Ms. B S Savita Consultant Optometrist Eyeful Optometry clinic and Ms. Madhumathi S Deputy Manager, Contact lens department, Sankara Nethralaya. The event was attended by the President of the Medical Research Foundation Dr. Girish S Rao, Dr. N Anuradha, Principal of Elite School of Optometry, and Dr. R Krishna Kumar, Advisor-Optometry, Sankara Nethralaya, Medical Research Foundation.Also, we had an informative session on Orthokeratology and GOV products by one of the sponsors of the event Mr. Swastik from Vsquare Pvt. Ltd.
Cash prizes were announced to the award winners for the following categories –Best Oral presentation was awarded to Ms. Vanessa Barnes from Vision Care Lab, Mumbai, Best E -poster was awarded to Ms.Keerthana, Intern -Elite School of Optometry, the best scientific Review was awarded to Mr. Krishna Shah –CL optometrist, Sankara Nethralaya, the best photography by Ms. Varsa Harinya, CL optometrist, Sankara Nethralaya and the Best Quiz Winning Team was Manipal College of Health Professionals, Manipal, Karnataka.
Overall the session well on well with lots of brainstorming discussions and appreciation from all the delegates.
The Third Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan Memorial Scientific Session
Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan is a name that is etched in the field of contact lens practice in India. Fondly remembered as Dr. Raji, with two decades of experience in the field of contact lens (CL) and international acclaim, she had been a trendsetter in various innovations in CL practice and specialty CL practice in India. In her fond memory, Sankara Nethralaya initiated “Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan Memorial Contact Lens Oration” on her birthday, September 9 since 2020.
On September 9, 2022, the third Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan Memorial Scientific Session took place virtually and featured keynote addresses and research presentations in the area of contact lenses. This time, we had eminent national and international speakers addressing on Scleral Lens Practice in India by Optom Prasad Sawant, Sawant optometry clinic, Case-based approach in Scleral Lens Fitting by Dr. Maria Walker, University of Houston, Contact lens solutions and materials: concepts to minimize Contact Lens Discomfort (CLD) by Dr. Lakshman Subbaraman, Associate Director, Alcon and Eye Print PRO -Impression technology in Scleral lens by Prof Christine Sindt, University of Iowa. The response and the feedback that was received for each talk were remarkable.
There were oral scientific presentations, e-posters, and scientific reviews presented by many delegates from across the country. Apart from the contests on photo/video, a quiz on contact lens for the optometry students was initiated for the first time. Judges from India and abroad including Dr. Anitha Arvind, Dr. Rashima A, Dr. Pradipto Bhattacharya, Dr. Jaya Sownjanya Reddy, Optometrist Irene Sophia, and Optometrist Jothibalaji evaluated the entries. The event was attended by the President of the Medical Research Foundation Dr. Girish S. Rao, Dr. N. Anuradha, Principal of Elite School of Optometry and Dr. A Rashima, Head of Occupational Optometry services, Optom S Madhumathi, In charge of the Contact Lens at Sankara Nethralaya and the entire department of the contact lens.
Cash prizes were announced to the award winners in each category and the details of the winners are listed below
| Award winners | |
| Quiz Team | Manipal college of health Professionals |
| MS Nirmal Ghalley | |
| Mr Kareem S | |
| Ms Rinzin Wangmo | |
| Photography | Mr.Vigneshwar A G M.Optom,Elite School of Optometry,SASTRA university |
| Scientific Article Review | Mr.Krishna Shah (M.Optom, The Sankara Nethralaya Academy, MGR university) |
| E-Poster | Ms. Karpagavalli S (Senior Optometrist-Dept.of Contact Lens, Sankara Nethralaya) |
| Oral Presentation | Ms.Vanessa Barnes (Contact Lens Fellow, The Sankara Nethralaya Academy) |
A brief on the Department of Contact Lens
During the Years 2020-2022
- Seen nearly 15,000 cases, including Specialty contact lens cases,
- Trained about 5 Fellowship students and 8 Postgraduates from the department of Contact lenses.
- About 10 peer-reviewed journal publications
- 3 optometrists Received FIACLE status (Fellowship in the International Association for Contact Lens Educators)
- Received Prestigious IACLE Travel Award – 2022
Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan awarded PhD
Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan, in charge of the Department of Contact Lenses at Sankara Nethralaya, has been awarded a PhD in optometry. Dr. Rajeswari completed her PhD on the topic “study of Rigid Gas Permeable Contact Lenswearers for Keratoconus & Contact Lens Fitting Methods in Irregular Cornea’s” under the supervision and guidance of Dr.Prema Padmanabhan Director […]