Santosh Gajanan Honavar is an Indian ophthalmologist and is currently the editor of the ''Indian Journal of Ophthalmology'' and ''Indian Journal of Ophthalmology - Case Reports'', the official journals of the All India Ophthalmological Society; Director, Medical Services (Centre for Sight Group); Director, Department of Ocular Oncology and Oculoplasty at ''Centre for Sight'',

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

; and Director, National Retinoblastoma Foundation. A former head of the Department of Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery and Ocular Oncology and associate director at

L. V. Prasad Eye Institute The L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) is an eye-care network, established by Dr. Gullapalli Nageswara Rao, an ophthalmologist, at Hyderabad, in 1987. It is a non-profit, multi-campus, non-governmental institution. With more than 200 eye-care c ...

, he is known for his research on

retinoblastoma Retinoblastoma (Rb) is a rare form of cancer that rapidly develops from the immature cells of a retina, the light-detecting tissue of the eye. It is the most common primary malignant intraocular cancer in children, and it is almost exclusively fo ...

. He is counted among the top 2% of world researchers and among the top 10 Indian ophthalmologists in research. The

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the l ...

, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, Applied science, applied or Fundamenta ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to Medical Sciences in 2009.. Dr Honavar is the only Indian Ophthalmologist to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, London, UK.

Biography

Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute

Santosh Honavar, born in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

in the Indian state

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

to Bhavani Ganapi Melinkeri and Gajanan Narayan Honavar, graduated in medicine from

Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI), (Beṅgaḷūru Vaidyakīya Mahāvidyālaya mattu Sanśōdhanā Sansthé) formerly Bangalore Medical College (BMC), is a medical college run by the Government of Karnataka. It is located ...

and did his post-graduate training and Senior Residency in Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery, Glaucoma and Pediatric Ophthalmology at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Center for Ophthalmic Sciences of the

All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, also known as AIIMS Delhi, is a public medical research university and hospital in New Delhi, India. The institute is governed by the AIIMS Act, 1956 and operates autonomously under the Min ...

. Subsequently, he moved to the US to undergo advanced training at

Wills Eye Hospital Wills Eye Hospital is a non-profit eye clinic and hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1832 and is the oldest continually operating eye-care facility in the United States. It is the ophthalmology residency program for Tho ...

Thomas Jefferson University Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its heritage, the univer ...

where he had the opportunity to train under Jerry A. Shields,

Carol Shields Carol Ann Shields, (née Warner; June 2, 1935 – July 16, 2003) was an American-born Canadian novelist and short story writer. She is best known for her 1993 novel '' The Stone Diaries'', which won the U.S. Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well a ...

and Arun Singh. On his return to India, he continued to work with

(LVPEI) where he strengthened the Department of Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery and founded ''Ocular Oncology Service'', the first facility for ocular oncology in India. He rose to become the associate director of LVPEI and last held the position of the director of ''Patient Care Policies and Planning'' at LVPEI. Subsequently, he moved to ''Centre for Sight'', Hyderabad (CFS) and heads the Department of Ocular Oncology and Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery. He is also the director of ''National Retinoblastoma Foundation'' since 2013 and CFS Education, the educational and training division of Centre for Sight. He has been working in close association with the renowned oncologist Vijay Anand Reddy for over 20 years now, managing the entire spectrum of tumors of the eye and adnexa. In addition to his clinical responsibilities, Dr Honavar is currently the editor of ''Indian Journal of Ophthalmology'', and Indian Journal of Ophthalmology Case Reports.

Legacy

Ocular oncology, especially

, has been the principal research area of Honavar and he is known to have contributed to the understanding and treatment of various tumors affecting the ocular surface and orbit. Working on retinoblastoma, he developed various therapeutic and management protocols which included high-dose and periocular chemotherapy,

adjuvant In pharmacology, an adjuvant is a drug or other substance, or a combination of substances, that is used to increase the efficacy or potency of certain drugs. Specifically, the term can refer to: * Adjuvant therapy in cancer management * Analgesic ...

therapy to mitigate the high risk of metastasis and multimodal management of orbital affection of the disease and he is reported to have treated over 2000 pediatric retinoblastoma patients with a success rate above of 85%. At L. V. Prasad Eye Institute, he was the first to perform intra-ocular

brachytherapy Brachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy where a sealed radiation source is placed inside or next to the area requiring treatment. ''Brachy'' is Greek for short. Brachytherapy is commonly used as an effective treatment for cervical, prosta ...

procedure, along with Vijay Anand Reddy. His studies have been documented by way of a number of articles of which many have been listed by online article repositories such as

Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in beta in November 2004, the Google Scholar index includes p ...

and

ResearchGate ResearchGate is a European commercial social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. According to a 2014 study by ''Nature'' and a 2016 article in ''Times Higher Education'' ...

. Besides, he has contributed chapters to books published by others. He is a section editor for ''Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology'' and is a member of the advisory committee of

International Council of Ophthalmology The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) is an international organisation that represents professional associations of ophthalmologists. It is headquartered in Brussels. The Board of Trustees is the executive body and operational arm of ...

. He serves as the scientific program coordinator of Oculoplastic Association of India and has also mentored research scholars in their studies. The invited speeches delivered by him include the ''BOPSS 2016'' of the British Oculoplastic Surgery Society.

Awards and honors

# Honavar, who held the ARVO-Santen International Fellowship in 1996 and Zeigler International Fellowship of

Orbis International Orbis International is an international non-profit non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to saving sight worldwide. Its programs focus on the prevention of blindness and the treatment of blinding eye diseases in developing countries throug ...

in 1999, is a recipient of the Pfizer National Award (1990) and the Col. Rangachari Gold Medal (1992) of the All India Ophthalmological Society. # The Indian Society of Oncology awarded him the Young Scientist Award in 2000 and he received two awards from the Andhra Pradesh State Ophthalmological Society in 2001 viz. Dr. Vengala Rao Award and Career Achievement Award. # He has received five honors from

American Academy of Ophthalmology The American Academy of Ophthalmology (Academy) is a professional medical association of ophthalmologists. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Its membership of 32,000 medical doctors includes more than 90 percent of practicing ...

, the Best of Show Award in 2002, 2006 and 2010, Achievement Award in 2002, and the Senior Achievement Award in 2009. In between, he received the Dr. Siva Reddy International Award of All India Ophthalmological Society in 2007. # The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, Applied science, applied or Fundamenta ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards in 2009. # He also delivered the Dr. Surya Prasad Rao Award Oration of the Andhra Pradesh State Ophthalmological Association in 2006. # MA Matin Award, Bangladesh Academy of Ophthalmology, 2013 # Jerry Shields International Award, APAO, 2013 # Distinguished Service Award, APAO, 2019 # Peter Rogers Oration, RANZCO, 2019 # In December, 2019, he was awarded the Life Achievement Honor Award by the

, he's the first Indian to receive the award. # Dr Honavar is the only Indian to be bestowed upon the Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, UK, 2020.

Notes

References

Publications

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Honavar, Santosh G. 1965 births Scientists from Pune Indian ophthalmologists Indian oncologists Medical doctors from Maharashtra Indian medical writers All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi alumni Thomas Jefferson University alumni Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Medical Science Living people