Contact Details

Phone: 91-9912644466
GUDLAVALLETI VENKATA SATYANARAYANA MURTHY
Director (SACDIR) and Distinguished Professor

His work revolves around improving global health and fostering international partnerships to improve health status of populations. He established the first Community Ophthalmology Department in the public sector in India and headed the department since its inception at Dr. R.P.Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, AIIMS till he demitted office in 2010. In 2010 established the LSHTM Overseas Centre of Excellence (The South Asia Centre for Disability Inclusive Development & Research) at Hyderabad, India as a collaborative project between LSHTM-PHFI. He worked at WHO, Geneva on the Childhood Blindness Program and was a UNAIDS Consultant with National Aids Control Organization (NACO) for 2 years, where he guided and monitored the first Behavioural Surveillance Survey (BSS) undertaken by NACO and facilitated the development of the first Computerized Monitoring Information System for the National AIDS Control Program. He is an international expert on public health disability and has been engaged in generating evidence on health care access and health concerns of persons with disability and in developing innovative interventions to dismantle these barriers.He has undertaken research projects in India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Dr. Murthy is Technical Advisor on Disability to CBM South Asia, Technical Advisor (Research) for Mission for Vision. He is a member of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust’s Scientific Advisory Committee, National Task Force on DR and ROP, Optometry Council of India, IAPB DR Technical Advisory Committee. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal for Community Eye Health, Earth Perspectives, Journal of Social Health & Diabetes, Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, Advances in Public Health & Journal of Biomedical Research. He has nearly 300 publications which are indexed in Pubmed.

Professional Affiliations

Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine; Indian Public Health Association; All India Ophthalmology Society; Delhi Ophthalmology Society; Indian Medical Association; International Society for Geographical and Epidemiological Ophthalmology, Indian Society for Medical Statistics, International Agency for Prevention of Blindness

Center Affiliations
  • IIPHH
  • SACDIR
Research Summary and Interests

Over the past 35 years I have contributed extensively to research, policy formualation and program implementation in epidemiology, public health eye care and public health disability. Have contributed extensively to assessing the magnitude of blindness and disability in many countries of the Commonwealth including Bangladesh, India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Have been involved in conceptualizing, implementing and interpreting data from large-scale population-based surveys in these countries. I have also managed nationwide population-based behvaioural surveillance for HIV/AIDS in India, which enabled the National AIDS Control program set the baseline to monitor the success of interventions. I have consistently engaged with research that has had policy implications. I was the Principal Investigator for the Key Informant Methodology Study for developing and validating a tool for detecting childhood disability in Bangladesh and Pakistan. I

Areas of Expertise
  • Non-Communicable Diseases(NCDs) and Injuries
  • Disability
  • Eye Health
  • Community Health
  • Research Methods
Other Areas of Expertise
  • Technical Advisor