2020 Edition

BEST OPTOMETRIST OF THE YEAR AWARD 2020

PADMAJA SANKARIDURG

Professor Padmaja Sankaridurg is Head, Myopia Program and Head, Intellectual Property at the Brien Holden Vision Institute and Conjoint professor at the School of Optometry and Vision Science, Sydney, Australia.

She was awarded her Bachelor of Science in Optometry degree from Elite School of Optometry, India in 1989, and her PhD (doctorate) in 1999 from the University of New South Wales, Australia and a Masters in Intellectual Property in 2012 from University of Technology, Australia.

Prof Sankaridurg has been researching myopia for over 15 years and her interests are strategies to slow myopia as well as refractive error development and has overseen translation of research to optical products to slow myopia.

Prof Sankaridurg participated as an expert at the WHO-BHVI global meeting of myopia, 2015 and is an advisory board member and a member of the Interventions and Harmonisation Committee, International Myopia Institute.  She is also an advisory board member for Review of Myopia Management, an online digital publication entirely devoted to myopia, Asia Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology and Indian Journal of Ophthalmology.  Vision Monday named her as one of the “Women of Influence in Optical Industry Innovator section” for 2018. 

Prof Sankaridurg has over 85 articles in peer reviewed journals, is a co-inventor on many patents/applications, has authored several book chapters, supervised MSc and PhD students to completion, serves on the editorial board for many journals and has delivered many invited talks and podium presentations at national and international meetings.

Prof Sankaridurg is actively involved in myopia education and has been instrumental in the development of many practice aids and guidelines including the BHVI Myopia Calculator and the BHVI Myopia Management guidelines (Brien Holden Vision Institute).

Professor Sankaridurg is currently involved in research programs involving optical devices and pharmaceutical strategies for myopia control. In addition, she is actively involved in understanding environmental influences and risk factors in myopia onset and progression through longitudinal multi ethnic studies involving  myopic and non-myopic children.