Speaker
Chandrakumar Balaratnasingam, PhD
Chandra Balaratnasingam is a vitreoretinal surgeon at the Lions Eye Institute in Perth, Australia. He is also Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Western Australia. He undertook ophthalmology training in Australia after which he completed sub-specialty training in retina diseases at the University of British Columbia, Canada, the Vitreous-Retina-Macula Consultants of New York and at the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital,. Following this he was appointed to clinical faculty at New York University School of Medicine prior to returning to Australia.
Professor Balaratnasingam received his PhD with High Distinction from The University of Western Australia for a thesis that examined pathogenic mechanisms underlying retinal ganglion cell axonal degeneration in diabetes and glaucoma. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts and his work has been editorialized in major international journals. The impact of his post-doctoral research in the field of vision science earned him a nomination by the Australian Academy of Science to attend the 61st Annual Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany. Professor Balaratnasingam serves on the editorial board of the Journals Ophthalmology Science, Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology and Retina Cases and Brief Reports. He is a member of the Macula Society and Retina Society.
Professor Balaratnasingam’s principal research interest is in the field of diabetic retina disease. He leads a research team that investigates novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to reduce vision loss due to diabetes through a range of laboratory and clinical research programmes.