Atul Kumar (ophthalmologist)

Atul Kumar is an Indian ophthalmologist who is currently the Chief & Professor of Ophthalmology at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences (RPC-AIIMS), the national apex ophthalmic centre at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. He was awarded the Padma Shri award in January 2007 for his services to the medical field. He specializes in vitreoretinal surgery and also heads the Vitreo-Retinal, Uvea and ROP services at RPC-AIIMS.

    Atul Kumar

    MD
    NationalityIndian
    EducationMBBS, MD, FAMS, FRCS (Ed.)
    OccupationVitreoretinal surgeon
    OrganizationAll India Institute of Medical Sciences
    Notable workResearch on the diseases of the retina and vitreous, retinal detachment surgery, macular hole surgery
    TitleChief at RPC-AIIMS
    PredecessorYog Raj Sharma
    HonoursPadma Shri, Dr. B. C. Roy Award

    Early life and education

    Born in September 1956, Kumar had a non-medical background.[1] After finishing his schooling from Modern School, Barakhamba[2] in Delhi, he graduated from the Maulana Azad Medical College.[3] Later, he pursued his higher studies in ophthalmology from Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi (AIIMS). He achieved the degree of Doctor of Medicine (MD). He further completed his senior residency in vitreo-retina and uvea unit from the same institute and afterwards joined as Faculty at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences at AIIMS itself.[4][5] In 1991, he went on to pursue fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery from University of Maryland, Baltimore County.[4]

    Achievements and positions

    Kumar is a specialist in diseases of the retina, vitreous and uvea and their management. His academic disciplines include Vitreoretinal surgery, Ophthalmic Lasers, Uveal diseases, Macular Hole surgery, anti-VEGF injections, Age Related Macular Degeneration, Retinal Detachment surgery, Myopic Traction Maculopathy, Pathological Myopia and Macular Hole Retinal Detachment.[6][7]

    He is presently the Chief and Professor of Ophthalmology at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences,[8] preceded in this post by Prof. Yog Raj Sharma. He is also commissioned as the Honorary Advisor in Ophthalmology to the Government of India (2016)[4][9] and the Honorary Vitreo-Retinal Consultant to Armed Forces Medical Services from 2015 to 2018.[4][9] Under his leadership, AIIMS doctors announced India as free of the eye infection Trachoma in March 2017.[10][11] This announcement came as a part of golden jubilee celebration of the institute.[11][12][13] Kumar is steering the national efforts towards elimination of blindness by heading the WHO Collaborating Centre for Prevention of Blindness in SEARO.[14] Kumar has been associated with several organizations and holds positions of responsibilities with many of them.

    Kumar is also a member of national and state ophthalmological societies in India and has held examiner positions in various medical examinations for graduates and postgraduates. He is presently the Chairman of the Advocacy Committee of All India Ophthalmological Society[15] and the Honorary Editor of Indian Journal of Ophthalmology (IJO)[16] on whose editorial board, he has been working previously.[9] He has been a Past Chairperson of the Scientific Committee of Vitreo-Retinal Society of India (VRSI),[17] a scientific organization of posterior-segment eye surgeons of India.

    Awards and recognitions
    The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam presenting Padma Shri to Atul Kumar, at an Investiture-II Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on April 05, 2007
    Padma Shri award, India's fourth highest civilian honour

    The Padma Shri award was awarded to Kumar in 2007[18] by the 13th President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee. It is the fourth highest civilian award in India, given for services in medicine. The President of India has also conferred Dr. B.C. Roy National award to him for excellence in field of medicine in the category of Eminent Medical Teacher.[19] The University Grants Commission recognized his scientific work by giving Hari Om Ashram Trust Award for role as outstanding social scientist for interaction between science and society.[20] Kumar is also a fellow of National Academy of Medical Sciences, 2006.[21] The alumni body of his high school too has felicitated him with Modern School Old Student Association (MSOSA) Excellence Award.[22] Very recently, in 2017, he has been awarded the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh FRCS (ad hominem) for his furtherance and excellence in vitreo-retinal surgical techniques.[23]

    Controversy

    In April 2018, Kumar stirred up controversy by slapping a resident doctor at the RPC, eliciting major protests from the resident doctors of AIIMS.[24]

    Publications

    Kumar has over 250 publications in medical journals, chapters in over 20 books, authored various books on diseases of the retina and vitreous and their management.

    Selected books/chapters
    • Ocular Tuberculosis[25]
    • Ocular Infections: Prophylaxis and Management[26]
    • Lasers in Ophthalmology
    • Ophthalmology Clinics for Postgraduates[27]
    • Disorders of Retina and Vitreous[28]
    • "Angiogenic Agents and Photodynamic Therapy" in Pharmacology of Ocular Therapeutics[29]
    • 'Retinal Laser Scanning and Digital Imaging' in 'Clinical Ophthalmology: Contemporary Perspectives'[30]
    • Contributions in Rashtriya Sahara (Volume 2, Issue 2), released by Sahara India Mass Communication, 1991[31]

    See also

    References
    1. Story, Cover (September 2016). "Lighting-up lives". Double Helical. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017.
    2. "MSOSA |Excellence Awardees". msosa.com. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
    3. "New Delhi : Dr Atul Kumar (AIIMS) Conferred with Dr BC Roy Award - Medical Dialogues". Medical Dialogues. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
    4. "Dr. Atul Kumar". AIIMS NEW. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
    5. "FACULTY LIST DEPARTMENT WISE". www.aiims.edu. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
    6. Kumar, Atul; Kakkar, Prateek; Ravani, Raghav Dinesh; Markan, Ashish (14 July 2017). "Utility of microscope-integrated optical coherence tomography (MIOCT) in the treatment of myopic macular hole retinal detachment". BMJ Case Reports. 2017: bcr-2016-217671. doi:10.1136/bcr-2016-217671. ISSN 1757-790X. PMC 5534718. PMID 28710187.
    7. Kumar, Atul; Ravani, Raghav; Mehta, Aditi; Simakurthy, Sriram; Dhull, Chirakshi (2018). "Outcomes of microscope-integrated intraoperative optical coherence tomography-guided center-sparing internal limiting membrane peeling for myopic traction maculopathy: a novel technique". International Ophthalmology. 38 (4): 1689–1696. doi:10.1007/s10792-017-0644-x. ISSN 1573-2630. PMID 28676991. S2CID 4026184.
    8. Kumar, Atul (February 2017). "Fifty glorious years of Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre". Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 65 (2): 83–84. doi:10.4103/ijo.IJO_170_17. ISSN 1998-3689. PMC 5381304. PMID 28345560.
    9. Kumar, Atul; Ravani, Raghav (July 2017). "Using intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin®) – Indian Scenario". Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 65 (7): 545–548. doi:10.4103/ijo.IJO_431_17. ISSN 0301-4738. PMC 5549403. PMID 28724808.
    10. "AIIMS doctors announce India free from eye infection causing blindness, trachoma". Retrieved 25 September 2017.
    11. "AIIMS doctors announce India free from eye infection causing blindness, trachoma". Retrieved 25 September 2017.
    12. Mohan, Madan (February 2017). "Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre celebrates golden jubilee". Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 65 (2): 80–82. doi:10.4103/0301-4738.202856. ISSN 1998-3689. PMC 5381303. PMID 28345559.
    13. Natarajan, Sundaram (February 2017). "Celebrating excellence". Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 65 (2): 79. doi:10.4103/ijo.IJO_177_17. ISSN 1998-3689. PMC 5381302. PMID 28345558.
    14. "WHOCC - WHO Collaborating Centres". apps.who.int. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
    15. AIOS. "All India Ophthalmological Society". www.aios.org. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
    16. "Indian Journal of Ophthalmology : About us". www.ijo.in. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
    17. "Past Chairperson Scientific Committee – Vitreo Retina Society". vrsi.in. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
    18. MHA, Ministry of Home Affairs (India). (21 May 2014). "Padma Awards Directory (1954–2014) (PDF)" (PDF). www.mic.nic.in. pp. 117–166. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2016.
    19. "25 Doctors conferred Dr BC Roy Award by the President on Doctors Day - Medical Dialogues". Medical Dialogues. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
    20. "University Grants commission ::Honours & Awards". www.ugc.ac.in. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
    21. "List of Fellows: October 2006 (NAMS)" (PDF). National Academy of Medical Sciences. 2006.
    22. "MSOSA |Excellence Awardees". msosa.com. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
    23. "| The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh". The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
    24. "AIIMS doctors go on strike after professor 'slaps' resident". Hindustan Times. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
    25. Kumar, Atul; Chawla, Rohan; Sharma, Namrata (25 June 2017). Ocular Tuberculosis. Springer. ISBN 9783319575209.
    26. Sharma, Namrata; Aron, Neelima; Kumar, Atul (30 June 2017). Ocular Infections: Prophylaxis and Management. JP Medical Ltd. ISBN 9789386322883.
    27. Maharana, Prafulla Kumar; Sharma, Namrata; Kumar, Atul (30 September 2017). Ophthalmology Clinics for Postgraduates. JP Medical Ltd. ISBN 9789386322890.
    28. Khurana, A. K. Khurana / Sunandan Sood / Atul Kumar / Subina Narang / Aruj K. (2014). Modern System of Ophthalmology MSO Series : Disorders of Retina and Vitreous (1st ed.). CBS. ISBN 9788123924106.
    29. Velpandian, Thirumurthy (29 February 2016). Pharmacology of Ocular Therapeutics. Springer. ISBN 9783319254982.
    30. Gupta, A. K. (14 May 2012). Clinical Ophthalmology: Contemporary Perspectives - E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences. ISBN 978-8131231654.
    31. Rashtriya Sahara. Sahara India Mass Communication. 1991.
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