Atul Kumar is an Indianophthalmologist who is currently the Chief & Professor of Ophthalmology at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences (RPC-AIIMS), the national apex ophthalmic centre atAll India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. He was awarded thePadma Shri award in January 2007 for his services to the medical field. He specializes invitreoretinal surgery and also heads the Vitreo-Retinal,Uvea andROP services at RPC-AIIMS.
He is presently the Chief and Professor of Ophthalmology at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences,[8] preceded in this post byProf. Yog Raj Sharma. He is also commissioned as the Honorary Advisor in Ophthalmology to the Government of India (2016)[4][9] and the Honorary Vitreo-Retinal Consultant to Armed Forces Medical Services from 2015 to 2018.[4][9] Under his leadership, AIIMS doctors announced India as free of the eye infectionTrachoma in March 2017.[10][11] This announcement came as a part of golden jubilee celebration of the institute.[11][12][13] Kumar is steering the national efforts towards elimination of blindness by heading theWHO Collaborating Centre for Prevention of Blindness inSEARO.[14] Kumar has been associated with several organizations and holds positions of responsibilities with many of them.
Kumar is also a member of national and state ophthalmological societies in India and has held examiner positions in various medical examinations for graduates and postgraduates. He is presently the Chairman of the Advocacy Committee of All India Ophthalmological Society[15] and the Honorary Editor ofIndian Journal of Ophthalmology (IJO)[16] on whose editorial board, he has been working previously.[9] He has been a Past Chairperson of the Scientific Committee of Vitreo-Retinal Society of India (VRSI),[17] a scientific organization of posterior-segment eye surgeons of India.
The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam presenting Padma Shri to Atul Kumar, at an Investiture-II Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on April 05, 2007Padma Shri award, India's fourth highest civilian honour
The Padma Shri award was awarded to Kumar in 2007[18] by the 13th President of India, ShriPranab Mukherjee. It is the fourth highest civilian award in India, given for services in medicine. The President of India has also conferredDr. B.C. Roy National award to him for excellence in field of medicine in the category of Eminent Medical Teacher.[19] TheUniversity Grants Commission recognized his scientific work by giving Hari Om Ashram Trust Award for role as outstanding social scientist for interaction between science and society.[20] Kumar is also a fellow ofNational Academy of Medical Sciences, 2006.[21] The alumni body of his high school too has felicitated him with Modern School Old Student Association (MSOSA) Excellence Award.[22] Very recently, in 2017, he has been awarded theFellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh FRCS (ad hominem) for his furtherance and excellence in vitreo-retinal surgical techniques.[23]
Kumar has over 250 publications in medical journals, chapters in over 20 books, authored various books on diseases of the retina and vitreous and their management.
^Khurana, A. K. Khurana / Sunandan Sood / Atul Kumar / Subina Narang / Aruj K. (2014).Modern System of Ophthalmology MSO Series : Disorders of Retina and Vitreous (1st ed.). CBS.ISBN9788123924106.
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