Gullapalli N. Rao joined the SightLife Board in 2013. After a successful career in the U.S. as an academic Ophthalmologist, Dr. Rao established the L. V. Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad 25 years ago and is now its Founder & Chair. Dr. Rao received his basic medical education in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India, and completed his postgraduate residency training at the All India Institute for Medical Sciences, New Delhi. In the U.S., he trained at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, and later at the School of Medicine, University of Rochester, where he continued as a faculty member until 1986.
Dr. Rao has specialized in diseases of the cornea, eye banking and corneal transplantation, community eye health, and eye care policy and planning. He has published over 250 papers and contributed several book chapters. From 2004-2008 he served as Chair of the Board of Trustees, President and CEO of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness where he played an important role leading VISION 2020: The Right to Sight, the global initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020.
Dr. Rao has received many honours and awards, the most prominent being:
An entrepreneur of solutions for eye health, Dr. Rao is widely respected for the creation of sustainable, high quality, comprehensive eye care delivery and as the father of the vision centre model which is transforming vision care across India and inspiring development worldwide. He personifies dedication to a cause and is internationally recognized as an ambassador for eye health.