Qualifications

  • Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (FRANZCO)
  • Fellowship in Paediatric Ophthalmology – Westmead Children’s Hospital
  • Diploma of National Board (Ophthalmology)
  • Master of Science (Ophthalmology) – Rajiv Gandhi University
  • Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery – MAHE University
    • First in Anatomy in M.B.B.S. examination
    • First in Forensic Medicine in M.B.B.S. examination
    • Third in ENT in M.B.B.S. examination
    • Second in Final M.B.B.S. Part II Examination
    • Ranked fourth in M.A.H.E. University in 1995
    • R.P.Koppikar and Dr. K.Krishnaswamy prizes

 

Professional Memberships

  • Royal Australia and New Zealand College of Ophthalmology (RANZCO)
    • Fellow
    • Member of the RANZCO AOWSC Committee
  • Australia and New Zealand Strabismus Society (ANZSS)
    • Member of SA Committee
  • Australia and New Zealand Paediatric Ophthalmology Society (ANZPOS)
  • International Strabismus Association (ISA)
  • International Society of genetic eye diseases and retinoblastoma (ISGEDR)
  • Sight for All (SFA) Foundation
  • American Association of pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS)
  • South Australian Indian Medical Association (SAIMA)
  • Can:Do4Kids
    • Service governance committee member

 

Positions

  • Senior staff specialist in Ophthalmology at Flinders Medical Centre
  • Senior clinical lecturer at Flinders University

 

Sub-Specialty Clinics

  • Ocular Genetics Clinics (multi-disciplinary) at Flinders Medical Centre – Founding member
  • Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) screening and management clinics
    • Pre-term infant follow up clinics
    • Supervision of Retcam-guided screening for ROP

 

Teaching

  • Training
    • Supervision of all paediatric ophthalmology and services at Flinders Medical Centre
    • Training of ophthalmology registrars, medical students, and optometry students at Flinders Medical Centre
    • Paediatric ophthalmology training for ophthalmologists in Myanmar (Vision Myanmar Program)
    • Paediatric Ophthalmology Fellowship Training for doctors at the Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology, Hanoi (Sight For All Foundation)
  • Speaker
    • Evidence based ophthalmology workshop – Adelaide – August 2006, September 2007,  August 2008, August 2009, September 2010 and August 2011.
    • Evidence based ophthalmology session in the 38th Annual scientific meeting of RANZCO – Sydney – Nov 2006.
    • Chairperson: Free paper session at The ANZ strabismus society meeting – Apr 18, 2008; Mar 3, 2012.
    • Blue Sky optometry conference – Adelaide – 2012, 2014.
    • Tasmanian State branch meeting – Hobart – June 2015.
    • Paediatric Ophthalmology for general Ophthalmologists Session at the Annual Scientific meeting – Melbourne – November 2016.
    • Phenotype-Genotype Correlation in Oculocutaneous Albinism – Genetics Session in the AAPOS-SPOSI joint conference – Jaipur, India –December 2016.
    • Plenary session on Paediatric Ophthalmology, annual RANZCO conference, Perth 2017.
    • Co-Chairperson: “What’s new in Paediatric Ophthalmology” session in annual RANZCO conference – Adelaide – 2018.
    • Panellist: Paediatric squints for general ophthalmologists in annual RANZCO conference – Adelaide – 2018.
    • Panellist: Paediatric squints for general ophthalmologists in annual RANZCO conference – Sydney – 2019.
    • Convenor: 27Th Annual ANZSS meeting – Adelaide – Feb 28-29, 2020.

 

Research

  • Publications
    1. Free floating, unilateral, pigmented vitreous cyst in a child. A case report and literature review. Paper co-authored by Maree Flaherty. JAAPOS; 2007: 44(4):243-4
    2. Repeatability of corneal first-surface wavefront aberrations measured with Pentacam corneal topography : Paper coauthored with Drs Hema Shankar, Chandramalar T Santhirathelagan, and Konrad Pesudovs published in  the Journal of cataract and refractive surgery  May2008 ; 34(5) : 727-734.
    3. Anterior segment biometry with the Pentacam: Comprehensive assessment of repeatability of automated measurements. Paper coauthored with H.Shankar, C.T.Santhirathelagan, K.Pesudovs published in the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery 2008; 34: 103-113.
    4. Glaucoma management in Sturge Weber Syndrome(SWS) : The Children’s Hospital Westmead experience. Presented at the Annual RANZCO meeting at Perth in Nov 2007 and ANZGIG meeting in Adelaide in May 2007. Coauthored by Brighu Swamy , Sapna Sharan , Robyn Jamieson, Orli Wargon and John Grigg. Published in JAAPOS 2009 Aug;13(4):374-8.doi:10.1016/j.jaapos.2009.04.007
    5. Objective monitoring of papilloedema using Confocal Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy .Paper coauthored with J.Chen, A.Chapell, B.Brophy and J.E.Craig published in the Journal Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology December 2007; 35(9): 863-865.
    6. The Classic features of MEN-2b syndrome- A case report coauthored with J.Chen, A. Mcmellon, A. Chappell, and J.Craig published in The Archives of Ophthalmology Volume 125(2), February 2007, p 280.
    7. Ocular malformation in a newborn secondary to maternal hypovitaminosis A. Coauthored by Gilchrist H, Gole G. JAAPOS Vol 14(3);June 2010.
    8. Port-wine vascular malformations and glaucoma risk in Sturge-Weber syndrome. Coauthored by Sharan S et al. JAAPOS 2009; 13:374-378.
    9. Another case of Congenital Pupillary-Iris-Lens Membrane with Goniodysgenesis. Coauthored by Chu E. JAPOS.2010 May 21;47 Online:e1-3.
    10. Macular Hypoplasia in Congenital Disorder of Glycosylation Type 1a. Coauthored by Wang B. Case Rep Ophthalmol 2012;3:142-144.
    11. A comparison between the amblyopic eye and normal fellow eye ocular architecture in children with hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia. Coauthored by Bob Z Wang. JAAPOS, October 2012, Vol.16(5); 428-30
    12. Cutaneous and ocular assessment with the use of fundus fluorescein angiography in incontinentia pigmenti. Poster presented at RANZCO 2012. Article in Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology 40:102-102; Dec 2012
    13. Multisegment coloboma in a case of Marfan syndrome:another possible effect of increased TGFbeta signaling. Coauthored by Shannon LeBlanc and Christopher Barnett. JAAPOS 2014;18:90-92
    14. Intense pulsed light therapy (IPL) induced iritis following treatment for a medial canthal capillary malformation. Coauthored by Matthew Crabb, Weng Onn Chan and Shyamala Huilgol. Australasian Journal of Dermatology.2014
    15. Spontaneously resolved infantile glaucoma. Coauthored by Tzu-ting Hsu, Sudha Cugati ,Jamie Craig and Trevor Hodson. Clinical and experimental ophthalmology.2014 Nov;42(8):800-2.doi:10.1111/ceo.12327.Epub 2014 Apr 15.
    16. Mutations in the EPHA2 gene are a major contributor to inherited cataracts in south-eastern Australia. Coauthored by Alpana dave et al. PLOSone August 2013;898). e72518
    17. Can intraoperative use of limbal stay suture in strabismus surgery cause epithelial ingrowth?coauthored by Katja Ullrich and Theresa Casey. JAAPOS 02/2014; 18(1): 90-2
    18. Creating a digital retinoscope by combining a mobile smartphone camera and a retinoscope. Coauthored by Weng Chan, Matthew Crabb and David Sia. JAAPOS; 08/2014: 18(4) : 387-88
    19. A case of congenital varicella syndrome- An ocular diagnostic dilemma. Poster presented at RANZCO 2014. Coauthored by Lachlan Farmer, Stewart Lake. Article in Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology 42:107-108: Nov 2014.
    20. Adequacy of published screening criteria for retinopathy of prematurity. Coauthored by Dickson Oh, Miriam Keane, Helen Fabel and Peter Marshall. Online publication : Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology. 2016 Mar;4492):121-7.doi:10.1111/ceo.12628.Epub 2016 Jan 26.
    21. Glaucoma phenotypic spectrum in patients with PITX2 and FOXC1 mutations includes primary open-angle glaucoma and primary congenital glaucoma.Coauthored by Emmanuelle Souzeau, Owen Siggs, Tiger Zhou , Jamie Craig et al. Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology. 43:53-54 ;Oct 2015.
    22. Mutation spectrum of primary congenital glaucoma in the Australian and new zealnd registry of advanced glaucoma. Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology. 43:53-53; Oct 2015.
    23. Partial duplication of the CRYBB1-CRYBA4 locus is associated with autosomal dominant congenital cataract. Coauthored by Siggs et al. European Journal of Human Genetics (2017) 25, 711-718; doi:10.01038/ejhg.2017.33
    24. High throughput genetic screening of 51 pediatric cataract genes identifies causative mutations in inherited pediatric cataract in South Eastern Australia. Coauthored by Shari Javadiyan, Jamie Craig, Shivani Sharma, et al. G3(Bethesda).2017 Oct5;7(10):3257-3268.doi:10.1534/g3.117.300109.
    25. Glaucoma spectrum and age related prevalence of individuals with FOXC1 and PITX2 variants. Coauthored by Emmanuelle Souzeau, Tiger Zhou, Owen Siggs,Anna Galanopoulos, Jamie Craig et al. Eur J Hum Genet.2017 Nov;25911):1290
    26. Orbital subperiosteal hematoma in the newborn Causing unilateral proptosis: Ultrasound as First-line Imaging Modality. Coauthored by Flo Angkasa, Ajay Taranath, Marcus Brecht et al. AJP Rep 2017Apr;7(2):e138-e143.doi:10.1055/s-0037-1603953.Epub 2017 Jun 30.
    27. Aggressive Posterior retinopathy of prematurity. Coauthored By Roger Gent, Lino Piotto and Ajay Taranath. Published in Sonography.doi: 10.1002/sono.12123
    28. Glaucoma spectrum and age-related prevalence in individuals with FOXC1 and PITX2 variants. Coauthored by Emmanuelle Souzeau et al. Eur J Human Genet. 2017 Nov ;25(11):1290.doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2017.147
    29. An international comparison of retinopathy of prematurity grading performance within the benefits of oxygen saturation targeting Boost II trials. Coauthored by Brian Fleck et al. Eye(London) 2018.Jan;32(1): 74-80: 10.1038/eye.2017.150.Epub 2017 Jul 28.
    30. Partial duplication of the CRYBB1-CRYBA4 locus is associated with autosomal dominant congenital cataract. Coauthored by Owen Siggs et al. Eur J Hum Genet.2017 Jun;25(6):711-718: 10.1038/ejhg.
    31. Congenital glaucoma with anterior segment dysgenesis in individuals with biallelic CPAMD8 variants. Coauthored by Owen Siggs et al. Ophthalmology 2019. doi:10.1016/ j.ophth.2019.12.024
    32. Prevalence of FOXC1 variants in individuals with suspected diagnosis of Primary Congenital Glaucoma. Coauthored by Owen Siggs et al. JAMA Ophthalmology. Published online Jan 17,2019. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2018.5646.
    33. Biallelic CPAMD8 variants are a frequent cause of Childhood and Juvenile Open-Angle Glaucoma. Coauthored by Owen Siggs et al. Ophthalmology.2020 Jun;127(6):758-766.
    34. Complications of limbal stay sutures in strabismus surgery. Coauthored by S Kuruvilla and J Pater. Strabismus,2021, 29:3, 139-143. https://doi.org/10.1080/09273972.2021.1948068.
    35. Childhood and early onset glaucoma classification and genetic profile in a large Australasian disease registry. Coauthored by Lachlan Knight et al. Ophthalmology. Nov 2021;128(11):15491560
    36. Comparison of Anterior Segment Abnormalities in individuals with FOXC1 and PIOTX2 variants. Coauthored by Mallika Senthil et al. Cornea 2022 Aug 1;41(8):1009-1015.
    37. The phenotypic spectrum of ADAMTSL-4 associated ectopia lentis: Additional cases, complications and review of literature. Coauthored by Lachlan Knight et al. Accepted for publication in June 2022 in journal of Molecular Vision.
    38. A clinical and electrophysiological case study of a child with a novel frame shift mutation in the CACNA1F and missense variation of RIMS1 genes. Coauthored by Paul Weston et al. Accepted for publication in July 2022 in journal of Documenta Ophthalmologica.
  • Posters and Free Paper Sessions
    • Case Report of Venous Malformation involving face and orbit – Poster presentation at the XVI Karnataka State Ophthalmic Conference, Davanagere, 1997.
    • Management of Endophthalmitis – Paper presentation at the XVII Karnataka State Ophthalmic Conference, Gulbarga 1998. Received the Second best Paper Award
    • Visual outcome and prognostic factors in extraction of Intra ocular foreign bodies not associated with Retinal detachment- Paper presentation at the XVIII Karnataka State Conference 1999
    • Non-drainage of Sub-Retinal Fluid in Retinal re-attachment surgeries – a pilot study Paper presentation at the XVIII Karnataka State Ophthalmic Conference, Hubli, 1999.
    • Hyperopic LASIK- Our experience in 40 patients -Paper presentation at the XX Karnataka State Ophthalmic Conference, Mysore, 2001.
    • Surgical management of severe PHPV in children- Paper presented at the 36th Annual Scientific meeting -RANZCO at Melbourne, November 2004.
    • Waardenburg Syndrome and epiphora. Poster presented at the Annual RANZCO conference held in Melbourne 2008. Coauthored by Rudkin AK, Khong JJ,and Pater JB.
    • Obesity and Vitamin A Deficiency. Free paper presented at the Annual RANZCO conference held in Melbourne,2008. Authored by Susie Luu, Deepa Taranath, Sonja Klebe and Prof.D.J.Coster.
    • Serial ultrasonographic documentation of Aggressive Posterior Retinopathy of Prematurity. Poster presented at the Annual RANZCR conference held in Adelaide ,2008. Authored by Deepa Taranath, Ajay Taranath, Lino Piotto and G.Lesquene.
    • Reduced central corneal thickness- a novel risk factor for CRVO – awarded the Best poster prize at the 38th Annual Scientific meeting – RANZCO at Sydney, November 2006.
    • Poster presented at RANZCO Auckland 2014. Sight threatening Retinopathy of Prematurity may be more prevalent among indigenous Australian neonates. Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology 43:32-32: Oct 2015.
    • Poster presented at RANZCO Melbourne 2016.
    • Poster presented at AAPOS-SPOSI Joint meeting in Jaipur, India in December 2016.
    • Poster presented at RANZCO Sydney 2014. A case of Congenital Varicella Syndrome- An ocular diagnostic dilemma. Coauthored by Lachlan Farmer and Stewart Lake.
    • Poster presented at RANZCO Brisbane 2015. Assessing the impact of the establishment of a new ocular genetics clinic in an Australian tertiary pediatric hospital. Coauthored by Natalie Ainscough, Chris Barnett
    • Poster presented at RANZCO Adelaide 2018. Case report: North Carolina Macular Dystrophy misdiagnosed as Congenital Toxoplasmosis. Coauthored by Moktika Tandon and Chris Barnett.
  • Professional Audits
    • ROP and ocular morbidity in premature infants – Data collected for 2003-2005 at the women’s and children’s hospital, Adelaide and practice modified as I was involved in the ROP screening and Prem-baby eye clinic between 08/07 and 07/09.
    • Ongoing audit of ROP and ocular morbidity in premature infants at Flinders Medical Centre from 2009 onwards till date.
    • Audits of the Diabetic Photographic Screening Program at Queen Elizabeth Hospital performed in 2010-2011.
    • 15 yr audit conducted evaluating the ROP screening criteria at Flinders Medical Centre. Completed in March 2012.
    • >15 yr audit of incidence and outcome of ROP in indigenous and nonindigenous Australian babies cared for at Flinders Medical Centre. Presented at the RANZCO annual conference held in Auckland, 2015.