Edition 2020

International Optometrist of the Year Award 2020

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

She earned her Bachelor in Optometry at the Elite School of Optometry, India, in 1989, her PhD in 1999 at the University of New South Wales, Australia, and a Master’s in Intellectual Property in 2012 at the University of Technology, Australia.

Professor Sankaridurg has been researching myopia for over 15 years, focusing on strategies to slow myopia progression and the development of refractive errors. She has supervised the translation of this research into optical products aimed at controlling myopia.

She participated as an expert at the WHO-BHVI global myopia meeting in 2015, is a member of its Advisory Board, and the Interventions and Harmonization Committee of the International Myopia Institute. She also serves on the Advisory Boards of the Review of Myopia Management, the Asia Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology, and the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. Vision Monday named her one of the “Women of Influence in the Innovative Optics Industry” in 2018.

Professor Sankaridurg has published over 85 peer-reviewed articles, is co-inventor on multiple patents, has authored several book chapters, supervised Masters and PhD projects, serves on the editorial boards of many journals, and has given numerous talks at national and international conferences.

She is actively involved in professional education on myopia and has been instrumental in developing multiple guidelines and practical tools, including the “Myopia Calculator” and the “Guidelines for Myopia Management” from BHVI (Brien Holden Vision Institute).

Currently, Professor Sankaridurg participates in research programs on optical devices and pharmaceutical strategies for myopia control. She also contributes to studies investigating environmental influences and risk factors for the onset and progression of myopia through longitudinal and multi-ethnic studies with myopic and non-myopic children.

Padmaja Sankaridurg

Bachelor in Optometry Elite School of Optometry, India, PhD University of New South Wales, Australia

Director of the Myopia Program and Head of Intellectual Property at the Brien Holden Vision Institute. Professor at the School of Optometry and Vision Science, Sydney, Australia.