LVPEI Monthly Note: Anniverseries | July 2026

News from our full member LV Prasad Eye Institute

On the first of July, 58 young men and women, the latest cohort of ophthalmology fellows to join LVPEI, walked onto our Kismatpur campus in Hyderabad. They represent some of the India’s brightest young ophthalmologists, selected for fellowship programs that are among the most sought-after courses for advanced subspeciality training in cornea, retina, oculoplasty, paediatric ophthalmology, glaucoma and other disciplines.

Education has been at the heart of LVPEI since its inception nearly four decades ago. Our founder Dr Nag Rao envisioned an institute that would be more than a hospital, one that would create and share new knowledge, practice evidence-based medicine, nurture talent, and build a sustainable, excellent and equitable eye care ecosystem. In fact, long before our campus was ready, our first symposium and journal club meetings were being held in the neighbouring Prasad film lab offices.

Today, the LVPEI network handles over 2.6 million patient consultations each year. Our fellows get trained in a system rich in disease pathology, advanced diagnostic equipment and clinical laboratories, committed faculty members, and enriched by world class research programs spanning basic research to stem cell therapy, multi-omics, ocular microbiology, and AI/tele-ophthalmology—all opening up the possibility to ask fundamental questions on disease pathogenesis and treatment. Even our secondary centres have access to ‘Pashyantu’, our unique mobile diagnostic van service.

These are compelling reasons for why a young ophthalmologist may choose to train with us. Yet, what truly distinguishes the LVPEI fellowship is our culture. It is a culture that values excellence while encouraging independence, responsibility, and a spirit of innovation.

Fellows quickly experience the values that define our institute: punctuality, courtesy toward every patient regardless of their socioeconomic status, scientific curiosity, and unwavering commitment to quality. During their second year, they spend time at one of our 26 secondary centres, where they learn to manage a busy hospital. The experience develops not only clinical competence but also leadership, adaptability, and compassion.

Beginning this August, about a third of the July 2026 cohort will travel to continue their training at our tertiary campuses in Bhubaneshwar and Visakhapatnam. The Pathak Centres of Eye Care Education, part of the Standard Chartered – LVPEI Academy for Eye Care Education, in both these locations will be hosting their training.

Tertiary Care at Twenty
The Mithu Tulsi Chanrai Campus in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha and the GMR Varalakshmi Campus in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, both tertiary care facilities, began operations in July 2006 just four days apart. This month, we celebrated twenty years of service at both centres. One staff member remarked that that twenty years was enough time for “…a young surgeon who once walked LVPEI’s corridors as a trainee [to] now return as a teacher.” Indeed, a virtuous cycle that has kept our ranks replenished over the years with some of the best in the business.

Another enduring LVPEI tradition is inviting visitors to plant a sapling to mark their visit. Watching those saplings mature into shade-giving trees offers a powerful reminder of how care and nurture are critical to help institutions grow.

I shared a similar reflection at the anniversary celebrations of both campuses. These campuses began as tender saplings in the fecund soil of India’s east coast. They have now grown into thriving institutions whose branches extend hope and healing to countless communities and students of the vision sciences.

Since its inception the MTC campus has provided over 2.3 million patient services and performed nearly 280,000 surgeries. Among its many achievements, I am particularly proud of its pioneering Retinopathy of Prematurity program, which reaches premature infants across rural Odisha. More than 27,000 babies have been screened, with timely laser treatment or anti-VEGF therapy preventing avoidable blindness in many of them. The campus’ Drishti Daan eye bank has also made remarkable contributions over these two decades. The MTC team as well as alumni got together to mark the anniversary with a glittering ceremony that celebrated both donors and patients whose trust shaped this journey.

A couple of days later, the GMRV campus in Visakhapatnam celebrated its own twentieth anniversary. Over the past two decades, this campus has offered over 2 million patient services and performed over 200,000 surgeries. Connected directly to 30 vision centres and serving more than 2000 villages through its community programs, the campus exemplifies our commitment to accessible, high-quality eye care. This campus too has many laurels to its name, but I would celebrate its deep commitment to lush vegetation and green cover within its perimeter.

Green LVPEI
Our investments in environmental protection are one of the less visible but deeply cherished aspects of LVPEI. Across our campuses, we have consistently sought to protect existing trees, create new green space, recycle wastewater and use natural resources responsibly. As we expanded the Kallam Anji Reddy campus, a Banyan tree was carefully translocated to Kismatpur nearly three decades ago. Today, it stands tall with a flourishing canopy in our Gullapalli Pratibha Rao campus there.

Around the anniversary celebrations at the GMRV campus, we unveiled a new 75kW rooftop solar system on the facility. Our investments in solar power began 10 years ago, and today, LVPEI operates solar installations across 33 tertiary and secondary centres. Nearly 30-80% of these centres’ total monthly electricity consumption is met through solar power, while some secondary centres exceed 60-80%. By February itself, our network had generated over 10 million units of solar-powered electricity—a great milestone to mark 10 years of investments and support. By some estimates, this is equivalent to planting over 300,000 trees; a veritable forest!

Gratitude
The journey of the two campuses has been made possible by visionary leadership, committed staff, and the trust and support of many donors and sponsors. The MTC campus was made possible by the government of Odisha, Operation Eyesight Universal and BHP Billiton, Mr Jagdish M Chanrai along with many individual contributions. We are also grateful to Operation Eyesight Universal, the government of Andhra Pradesh, Mr G M Rao and the GMR Varalakshmi Foundation for their pioneering support to the Varalakshmi campus in Visakhapatnam. Many individuals have also made this centre possible. We are delighted to add Laurus Labs and the Ella family of Bharat Biotech to this campus’ supporters.

Maanaveeya Development & Finance Private Limited, the Indian subsidiary of Oikocredit, a leading development finance company, has been the engine behind our solar initiatives, supporting 7 of them across our campuses.

My congratulations and best wishes to all the staff who have made these milestones possible. And to the young fellows joining us, I hope they will learn to use their heads, hands, and heart, the LVPEI way.

-Prashant Garg

Date: 31 July 2026
Source: LV Prasad Eye Institute