Soosan Jacob

About Soosan Jacob

Director and Chief at Dr. Agarwal's Refractive and Cornea Foundation, Senior Consultant of Cataract and Glaucoma Services at Dr. Agarwal's Group of Eye Hospitals, Chennai, India

What is your proudest professional achievement?

My innovations, which have helped create a ripple effect for many of my patients, as well as my colleagues. Many, including CAIRS and CACXL, have been life-changing for patients. It was a great moment for me to be recognized for these investigative qualities and to be bestowed the coveted ISRS Kritzinger Memorial award that added me as the first woman ever to a previous powerful all male recipient list of awardees. Another achievement equally close to my heart is my surgical teaching YouTube channel, which has more than 10,000 subscribers. It has given me the satisfaction of hearing my colleagues say how useful it's been for them to learn new skills and upgrade old ones.

Outside of ophthalmology, what makes you happy?

Without a doubt, my family! My husband and two children, Ashwin and Riya, light up my days. They make my world happy and complete.

Why is it important to celebrate women in the field this way?

It is important to celebrate women (and I’m not speaking about myself, but all the awesome, wonderful women ophthalmologists we are lucky to have in our profession) because these Power Women show the way forwards and set the target for other brilliant women to break! I for one have been inspired by many power women, from Daniele Aron-Rosa to many of my contemporary peers, as well as the talented and wonderful generation that we have coming up! For women, it is crucially important to break glass ceilings to achieve our full potential. Globally, there is a long way to go for this but it is good to see universal recognition and support coming in as women often need to fight twice as hard for the same achievements. I must say though, that I have been fortunate both at home and at work to be in environments where it is considered crucial to empower women.