| L V Prasad Eye Institute | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | L V Prasad Marg, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India |
| Organisation | |
| Hospital type | Specialist |
| Services | |
| Speciality | Ophthalmology |
| History | |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Links | |
| Website | http://www.lvpei.org |
| Lists | Hospitals in India |
L V Prasad Eye Institute is a non-profit eye clinic, hospital, research facility and an eye bank in Hyderabad, India. It was established in 1986. It has tertiary care centers in Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam.
The institute gets its name from a noted film producer, L. V. Prasad, who set up the institute in 1986. He not only set up the eye hospital with his donation,[1] but also a research centre, a rehabilitation centre and an eye bank. The facility was built on a 150,000 square feet (14,000 m2) area on a 5 acres (2.0 ha) plot in Hyderabad's Banjara Hills locality.[2]
In 2000, the institute tied up with Bausch and Lomb and opened an International School of Optometry. This school, which was set up at a cost of 18 crore (US$3.42 million), was located on a 6 acres campus in Kismatpur. The school offers a four-year course to students in collaboration with Birla Institute of Technology and Science. The course curriculum is approved by the Sydney-based International Centre for Eye Care Education.[3][4]
The institute conducts stem cell research at its Hyderabad facility.[5] While interest in this research began in 1999,[6] actual research began in 2001.[7] In early 2004, the institute set up a dedicated center for using adult stem cells to cure blindness in people with damage to the outer surface of their eyes. This center was inaugurated by Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the then President of India.[8] The institute's research claimed to have invented this new technique that fights sight deficiency that is caused by the inability of the eye to repair the cornea.[9] The research used limbal stem cells from the eye to treat damaged corneas and until 2005, they had 70% success rate in treating over 250 cases.[7] By the end of 2007, the success rate improved to 73% among 490 people.[10]
In 2005, the Government of India sanctioned 250 lakh (US$475,000) to promote stem cell research. As a part of this drive, facilities for this research at this institute were to be upgraded.[11]