India Chapter

The request for an India chapter was made during the early 2019, followed by email communications and meetings at the Academy 2019 Orlando meeting. The official approval for the Chapter was received on the 21st February, 2020. Our primary goal is to promote collegial exchange of ideas in the areas of optometry and vision science that will persistently elevate the quality of optometric care and vision research in the country.

The main objective of this Chapter is to support the declared objectives of the American Academy of Optometry by:

1. Providing a forum for the members to keep abreast of the recent scientific and clinical developments in optometry.

2. Assuming the responsibility of leadership within the India in the field of professional optometry, in the promotion and maintenance of the highest ethical principles, and actually working to provide the highest quality education in eye and vision care.

3. Recruiting all optometrists and optometry students who are eligible for membership in the American Academy of Optometry and to guide them through the Fellowship process

Chapter News

Rajeswari New Fellow

Obituary for Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan, PhD, MPhil Opt, FIACLE, FSLS, FBCLA, BAMS, FAAO

September 9, 1976 to July 15, 2020

The American Academy of Optometry (AAO) India chapter expresses its condolences regarding the sudden demise of Dr. Rajeswari Mahadevan, fondly called as Raji, to the hard battle with cancer. She was heading the contact lens clinic at Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, India for almost two decades now. She held a number of first of its kind accolades including a PhD in the field of specialty contact lenses, PROSE clinical fellowship from the Boston Foundation for Sight, USA to becoming the Asia Pacific Regional president of the executive board of the “International association of contact lens educators (IACLE)”. She became a Fellow of the International association of contact lens educators (FIACLE) in 2000, obtained FSLS a fellowship from the scleral lens education society in 2014, received the fellowship from the British contact lens association (FBCLA) in the year 2014, fellowship from the American academy of optometry (FAAO) in 2016, and served as the Asia pacific – President for IACLE. She brought in all the best practices and advancements in the field of contact lenses and specialty contact lenses to India. Raji will be missed deeply and her loss is indeed an irreplaceable and irreparable one to the Global Optometry fraternity. She will remain an inspiration to many in the personal and professional front. On behalf of the AAO- India chapter, Raji’s legacy is to be celebrated through a virtual condolence meeting organized on the 23rd August, 2020. The details of this virtual meeting can be found under the AAO-India chapter webpage.

See also: 
Letter from the Section on CCLRT requesting the Academy Board of Directors to posthumously award Dr. Mahadevan with the Section on CCLRT honorary Diplomate status. 

Current Officers

President: Jameel Rizwana Hussaindeen, MPhil, PhD, FAAO, FCOVID-I, BVPPO Clinical Diplomate
Sankara Nethralaya, Unit of Medical Research Foundation

Vice-President: Lakshmi Shinde, FLVPEI, FIACLE, FAAO
International Association of Contact Lens Educators

Secretary Treasurer: Prasad Sawant, MOptom, FLVPEI, FBFS, FIACLE, FBCLA, FAAO
Sawant Optometry Clinic

Executive Committee

Vijayakumari Gothwal, Bpt, MAppSc, PhD, FAAO, Low Vision Research Diplomate
LV Prasad Eye Institute

Prema Chande, MOptom, FIACLE, FAAO
Lotus College of Optometry, Mumbai

Late Rajeswari Mahadevan, PhD, FBFS, FIACLE, FBCLA, FAAO
Sankara Nethralaya, Unit of Medical Research Foundation

Nilesh Thite, MOptom, FIACLE, FAAO
International Association for Contact Lens Educators 

Anuradha Narayanan, BSOpt, PhD, FBDO, FAAO, MSc (Psychology) PG Dip Health
Elite School of Optometry, Unit of Medical Research Foundation

Other Members

Dr. KK Yadav, MMS, LLB, PhD, FAAO
Ghaziabad, UP, India

Ms. Sarika G, BSOpt, FAAO
Sankara Nethralaya, Unit of Medical Research Foundation

Ms. Aditi Deshpande (Moghe), MOptom, FAAO, FIACLE
Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed to be University, School of Optometry, Pune

Mr. Kuldeep Raizada, PhD, BCO, BADO, FAAO
International Prosthetic Eye Center, Hyderabad




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