Sundaram Natarajan
Sundaram Natarajan is an Indian ophthalmologist. In 2002, he started a free clinic in Dharavi, a slum in Mumbai, and treated more than 8,000 people. He has also held free camps in various other suburbs of Mumbai such as Mankhurd and Govandi to treat the economically poor. In 2016, he also held a camp in Kashmir to operate and cure the victims of pellet gun firings.
In 2013, he was awarded with Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour., he is head of the Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital in Wadala, Mumbai.
Education
Natarajan graduated from the Madras Medical College in 1980. He completed his Diploma in Ophthalmology at the University of Madras in 1984 and Fellowship in Retina and Vitreous Surgery at Sankara Nethralaya in 1985.He completed Fellow of All India Collegium of Ophthalmology in 2012, Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons in Glasgow in 2018, and Fellow of European Latino American Society of Ophthalmology in 2019.
Awards and records
He was awarded Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian awards, by President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee in 2013.He holds a former Guinness World Record for the most diabetic eye screenings in 8 hours. This record was achieved when 649 diabetes patients were screened in Dharavi, Mumbai.
He is a "Character Inductee" of the Retina Hall of Fame, being one of two Indians listed in 2017.
He was awarded a State Award for Meritorious Service by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir for creating a record by performing forty-seven vitreoretinal surgeries in two and a half days while in Jammu and Kashmir.
He holds a National Record in the Limca Book of Records for performing the first completely sutureless sclera bucking as well as a sutureless 23G vitrectomy.
Organizational awards
| Year | Award | Organization |
| 1991 | Dr. E. Balakrishnan Memorial Award | Indian Association of Biomedical Scientists, Madras |
| 1995 | Dr. V. K. Chitnis Oration | Maharashtra Ophthalmological Society |
| 1998 | Dr. Joseph Gnanadickam Gold Medal Oration Award | SROC and TNOA |
| 1998 | Best Researcher Award | Dr. P Siva Reddy Endowment fund, A.P. Akademi of Sciences |
| 1998 | C.N. Shroff Award | AIOC, Cochin |
| 2001 | Senior Honour Award | Vitreous Society, USA |
| 2001 | Best Video and Poster Award | APAO, Taiwan |
| 2005 | Innovation Award | Maharashtra Ophthalmological Society |
| 2005 | Man of the Millennium | International Award Committee of Wisitex Foundation |
| 2005 | Dr. Rustom Ranji Oration | 29th AP Ophthalmological Society |
| 2005 | Lifetime Achievement Award | National & International Compendium, New Delhi |
| 2005 | Gusi Peace Prize | Gusi Peace Prize Foundation, Manila |
| 2006 | Man of the Year | American Biographical Institute |
| 2006 | Young Achiever Award | ICON |
| 2006 | Distinguished Service | Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology |
| 2009 | Lions Favourite Eye Specialist | Lions Club of Mumbai |
| 2009 | SSM Oration Award | SSM Eye Research Foundation, Cochin |
| 2009 | Achievement Award | American Academy of Ophthalmology |
| 2010 | Dr. Sandeep Wagh Award | |
| 2010 | Anita Oration Award | |
| 2011 | Air Marshal MS Bopari Award | Ocular Trauma Society of India |
| 2011 | Retina Oration Award 2011 | SAARC Academy of Ophthalmology |
| 2011 | Gold Medal | Indian Intraocular Implant & Refractive Society, Delhi |
| 2011 | Gold Medal | Bombay Ophthalmologists’ Association, Mumbai |
| 2011 | Retina Foundation Oration Award | Retina Foundation, Ahmedabad |
| 2012 | Achievement Award | Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology |
| 2018 | Senior Achievement Award | American Academy of Ophthalmology |
| 2018 | SAO Excellence Award | SAARC Academy of Ophthalmology, Nepal |
| 2018 | Prof. B.P.Kashyap Oration Award | Jharkhand Ophthalmological Society |
| 2019 | The Legends Of Indian Ophthalmology Award | iBeach Film Festival, GOA |
| 2019 | Dr. Dhanwant Singh Oration Award | Punjab Ophthalmological Society, Punjab |
Current academic positions
- President - Organized Medicine Academic Guild
- Managing Trustee - Aditya Jyot Foundation for Twinkling Little Eyes
- Managing Trustee - Aditya Jyot Research Foundation
- Secretary - Aditya Jyot Eye Research Institute
- Chairman - All India Ophthalmological Society Nationwide DR Screening Task Force
- Chairman of the International Committee - All India Ophthalmological Society
- Secretary General - Global Eye Genetics Consortium
- Immediate Past President - International Ocular Trauma Society
- Immediate Past President - Ocular Trauma Society of India
- Representative of AIOS ICO General Assembly
- ICO Board of Trustees International Council of Ophthalmology
- President - Asia Pacific Ophthalmic Trauma Society
- Member - Euretina International Advisory Board
- Hon. President - Sankara Nethralaya Alumni Association
- Regional Managing Editor - Eye World Asia Pacific, Indian Edition
- Honorary Director - Indian Eye Injury Registry
- Member - Council of Asia Pacific Intraocular Implant Association, Singapore
- Executive committee member - International Society of Ocular Trauma
- Hon. Secretary, Alumni Association- Sankara Nethralaya
- Vice President - Indo-Japanese Ophthalmic Foundation
- Patron - National Society for Prevention of Blindness, Mumbai Branch