Gullapalli Nageswara Rao

Gullapalli Nageswara Rao is an Indian ophthalmologist, the chairman of the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis (AOI) and the founder of the L. V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad. A former associate professor at the School of Medicine and Dentistry of the University of Rochester, Rao is a Fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences, India. He was elected in 2017 to the Ophthalmology Hall of Fame instituted by the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Personal life At the age of three he was sent to his maternal uncle living in Edupagallu village near to Vijayawada.

Education and career After completing his MBBS at Guntur Medical College in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, Rao completed his postgraduate residency training in ophthalmology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He has received the degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) from the University of Melbourne, the Honor Award of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, International Blindness Prevention Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the AEBA Award from the Association of Eye Bank of Asia. Rao has served the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness as a board member, the secretary general (1998) and the president (2004) on various occasions. World Cornea Congress Medal from International Cornea Society for outstanding contribution to the field of cornea 1996: Fellowship of the National Academy of Medical Sciences, India 2006: International Blindness Prevention Award, by the Board of Trustees of the American Academy of Ophthalmology