With the grand take off of 28th Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) congress in Hyderabad, Prof Rajvardhan Azad the chief of ophthalmology Centre at AIIMS has formally assumed charge as president of APAO succeeding Dr Frank Martin, the outgoing president.

Prof Azad was earlier elected as president APAO a month ago and he is the first Indian to be elected as president of APAO. Currently he is also heading as president of APAO-AIOS 2013 Congress.

Prof Rajvardhan Azad is also the Advisor (Ophthalmology) for government of India and Armed Forces Medical Services and Director - WHO Collaborating Centre at New Delhi. He is a recipient of most prestigious awards in India including the most prestigious Dr B C Roy best teacher award. He has also served as President of National Board Medical Examinations, India. He had been honorary secretary for two terms at All Indian Ophthalmological Society and later elected as the president. He is serving as Secretary General of South Asian Academy of Ophthalmology (SAO) and regional secretary of Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology.

He has been honoured with visiting Professorships at the leading Universities. These include Institute of Eye Microsurgery at Moscow, Dohney Eye Institute, Texas Retina Associates, Beaumont Retina Institute, The Ruiz Department of Ophthalmology European School of Advanced Studies and University of Toronto and Zhongshan Ophthalmic Institute and Sun Yat Sen University, China.

Prof Azad is a vitreo-retina surgeon with special interest in ROP. He has original contributions in ocular trauma, retinal detachment surgery, diabetic retinopathy, ARMD, vascular occlusions and early treatment of ROP. These innovations have contributed immensely to better and more efficient surgical management. He has been Principal investigator/Co-investigator at many international multi-centeric studies conducting at this centre. Prof Azad authored 12 books and over 300 indexed publications.

President of India, Pranab Mukharjee, has officially inaugurated the four-day grand event of 28th Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Congress (APAO) and 71st Annual Conference of All India Ophthalmological Society (AIOS) at Hyderabad International Convention Centre.

APAO is a federation of national ophthalmology societies fostering the growth of ophthalmology and visual sciences which aims to preserve and protect vision of the people of the Asia Pacific region.