37th Annual Lobo Memorial Oration held

37th Annual Lobo Memorial Oration held Ludhiana, October 12, 2019: The Department of Ophthalmology, Christian Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana, in association with the Lobo Memorial Trust organized the 37th Annual Lobo Memorial Oration on Saturday. The theme for this year’s Lobo Memorial Oration was ‘Recent Updates on Cataract & Refractive Surgery’. The Oration was delivered by Prof. Jagat Ram, the ophthalmologist par excellence, and Director, PGIMER, Chandigarh on the topic “Achieving Excellence Combining Focus, Talent and Medicine.” Prof Jagat Ram has been awarded the Padma Shree by the Honourable President of India in 2019, and is on the Board of Governors of Medical Council of India since September 2018. Prof Jagat Ram is also the Director of AIIMS Bathinda, Bilaspur and Rae Bareilly. He is the worthy recipient of “Best of the Best winner” for innovative surgical techniques in management of double crystalline lens and in pediatric cataract by the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Prof. Ram has been serving as the Director of PGIMER, Chandigarh since March 2017. He is the Vice-President of the Eye Bank Society of India and is the Chief Coordinator of Internatinal Council of Ophthalmology from India. He is also a member of the Governing Council of the Punjab State Blindness Control Society. He is currently serving as the Chairman of Technical Evaluation Committee for Department of Health and Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India. Prof Jagat Ram has significantly contributed as Senior Consultant Ophthalmologist to the Republic of Seychelles under the Govt. Of India from 2003 to 2005 and eliminated the backlog of cataract blindness in the island nation. Prof. Jagat Ram was awarded Oscar of Pediatric Ophthalmology at the World Congress of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus held at Barcelona in September 2015. Prof. Jagat Ram has more than 330 publications in the top national and international journals and has contributed chapters in more than 40 textbooks. He has performed over 90,000 surgical procedures for cataract blind patients which include over 9,500 pediatric cataract surgeries. Prof. Jagat Ram has frequently offered his services as an eye surgeon in organizing, participating and operating free of cost in over 135 Eye Relief Camps. The event was attended by the Administrative heads of CMCL, including the Director Dr. William Bhatti, Principal, Dr Jeyaraj D Pandian and the Medical Superintendent, Dr Anil Luther among others. Mr. Maninderjit Singh, President of the Lobo Memorial Trust, spoke on the occasion and recalled the immense contribution of Dr.L.H. Lobo, the former Principal of CMC, in the field of Orthopedics and teaching, nurturing and mentoring students. The Lobo Memorial Trust had been set up to keep alive his memory and greatness. Prof. Jagat Ram was honoured by the Trust with a silver plaque, medallion and a shawl. Dr. N.K.Chaudhry, Honorary Secretary and Dr. Tarun Satija, Honorary treasurer of the Lobo Memorial trust also spoke on the occasion and appreciated the efforts of the department of Ophthalmology in keeping up the tradition of organizing this mega annual event. The organizing Secretary, Dr. Nitin Batra, Professor of Ophthalmology said that over 200 delegates had registered for the Lobo Memorial Oration-2019 this year The oration was followed by a CME in which eminent ophthalmologists from Chandigarh, Jalandhar and New Delhi gave talks on different topics and enlightened the delegates & PG students. The speakers included Prof. Sudesh K Arya from GMCH, Chandigarh, Prof. Amit Gupta and Dr. Chintan Malhotra from PGIMER, Chandigarh, Dr. Gagandeep Singh Brar from Sangam Netralaya, Mohali, Dr. J.S Thind from Thind Eye Hospital, Jalandhar, and Dr. Hemlata Gupta from Centre for Sight, New Delhi. The sessions were chaired by eminent ophthalmologists from Ludhiana, including the president of the Punjab Ophthalmological Society, Dr. Dinesh Garg. A wet lab was conducted after lunch for the young, budding ophthalmologists to get a hands-on experience about the latest advancements in cataract and refractive surgeries.