High Impact & Low Cost Solutions in Global Health: Lessons from the Award-Winning Aravind Model

CASI-Related Event

CASI Spring 2019 Visiting Fellow

Thulasiraj Ravilla
Executive Director, LAICO, Aravind Eye Care System
Smilow Center for Translational Research (Floor 12, Room 12-146 AB)
3400 Civic Center Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104

REGISTRATION REQUIRED

About the Speaker:
Thulasiraj Ravilla is the Executive Director at Aravind Eye Care System (Tamil Nadu), where he has been an active member of the leadership team since 1981. In 1992, he shifted his focus to capacity building and management training by setting up the Lions Aravind Institute of Community Ophthalmology (LAICO) which, by 2018, had shared best practices with about 350 hospitals in India and 28 other countries.

With his expertise in setting up culturally relevant solutions in eye care, Mr. Thulasiraj has served as an advisor on several national and international bodies including the South East Asia’s Regional Chair for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (2000-05) and was the Founder President of Vision 2020 The Right to Sight: India. He has been a Technical Advisor to India’s National Programme for the Control of Blindness and to the World Health Organization.

Mr. Thulasiraj’s contribution to the field of eye care, especially its management, has been well recognized. He was named a Social Entrepreneur in May 2005 by the Schwab Foundation and has been invited to attend the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. In 2008, he was adjudged Administrator of the Year in by Modern Medicare and GE Health. In 2009, the Chinese Ophthalmological Society, in recognition of the support to the prevention of blindness in China, awarded him the International Gold Award. In 2014, The Times of India listed him amongst the "30 most influential people in public health" and recognized him as the "most inspiring healthcare leader of the year." In 2018, he was honored as a distinguished alumni by the Indian institute of Management, Calcutta, where he earned an MBA.

[Event Flyer]

Co-sponsored with     

 

 

The Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series is an endowed public program of the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI). Launched in the 2007-08 academic year, and made possible through the generous support of the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation, the series brings renowned India specialists to the Penn community and serves as a critical forum for analyzing and understanding the complex economic, political, social, and cultural changes that the world’s largest democracy is experiencing, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.
The Saluja Global Fellows Program has been made possible by the generous gift from Vishal Saluja ENG’89 W’89. CASI was excited to launch the program during the 2022–23 academic year, coinciding with the Center’s 30th Anniversary. This new program enables CASI to invite eminent leaders and rising experts on contemporary India preferably from the fields of media, culture, law, and contemporary history to be in residence for one to two weeks at CASI.