Thulasiraj Ravilla

Brainstormer, Business mentor, Idea generator, Social entrepreneur

Have been working in the field of eye care since 1981, at Aravind Eye Care System. An active member of the leadership team that established a sustainable, scalable model of service delivery which serves all strata of the society. This has since been studied widely and replicated by eye care providers across the globe. In 1992, he shifted his focus to capacity building, training and consultancy by setting up the Lions Aravind Institute of Community Ophthalmology (LAICO) which by 2008, had worked with over 250 hospitals across the globe. With the expertise in setting up culturally relevant solutions to the problem of avoidable blindness, served as an Adviser on several national and international bodies: served as the South East Asia’s Regional Chairman for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (2000-2005) and till recently was the President of Vision 2020 The Right to Sight: India. Technical Adviser to India’s National Program for the Control of Blindness and to the World Health Organization. Have been actively involved in several research activities, both clinical and operations research. Authored or co-authored several articles in peer reviewed publications, book chapters and presented papers in several National and International forums. Some of the recognitions: elected as a Social Entrepreneur in May 2005 by the Schwab Foundation and invited to attend the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland; adjudged as the Administrator of the Year in 2008 in the annual activity carried out by Modern Medicare and GE Health. The Chinese Ophthalmological Society in recognition of the support to Chinese ophthalmology and outstanding contributions to the prevention of blindness in China has given the International Gold Award for the year 2009. Facts: MBA, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (1971-73) Visiting Scholar – University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA (1982 – 83) Founder (Past) President, Vision 2020 - The Right to Sight, India Regional Chair (past), South East Asia, International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness Trustee & Treasurer, Dhan Foundation Visiting faculty: University of London – London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Invited Panelist: World Economic Forum at Davos – 2009, 2007 & 2008 as a Schwab Fellow Expertise: Health Management with a particular focus in eye care, public health research, IT