Biography
Dr Merle Fernandes is the Network Director–Finance and Accounts at LVPEI and also the Director of LVPEI’s Centre of Excellence at the Kallam Anji Reddy campus, Hyderabad. A sought-after cataract and refractive surgeon, she served as the Director of LVPEI’s GMR Varalakshmi campus in Visakhapatnam from 2008 to June 2021, and also as the Medical Director of the Mohsin Eye Bank located at the campus. She is widely recognized for her work in the field of corneal infections and diseases affecting children.
Dr Fernandes completed her undergraduate and postgraduate training at Goa Medical College, Goa, and subsequently pursued a fellowship in Cornea and Anterior Segment at LVPEI in Hyderabad. She joined LVPEI as a tenured faculty member in 2002, transitioning to a full-time faculty role in 2005. Later, she also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Ocular Surface Immunology under the mentorship of Professor Reza Dana at Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston.
She has a keen interest in research and has published extensively in national and international peer-reviewed journals, presenting several papers in India and abroad. She is a reviewer for several journals, including the British Journal of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmology, Cornea, and Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology. She is actively involved in the Cornea fellowship training program at LVPEI and has mentored several budding corneal surgeons.
A fitness enthusiast, Dr Fernandes enjoys swimming and playing badminton. She has combined her love for teaching and traveling through her association with the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital, where she imparts cataract surgical skills in underdeveloped countries, particularly in Africa. In her spare time, she loves reading fiction.