Ashok Kumar, Ph.D., the associate professor of the Wayne State University School of Medicine's Kresge Eye Institute and the Department of Ophthalmology, Visual and Anatomical Sciences, has been invited to give the keynote address at the Indian Eye Research Group meeting now designated as the ARVO INDIA chapter.

The meeting will take place July 28-29 at the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad in India.

"I am truly honored to be invited to present the keynote lecture at this important international meeting, especially being the Silver Jubilee celebration of the Indian Eye Research," said Dr. Kumar, who will speak on "Novel therapeutic targets to promote inflammation resolution in ocular infections."

Additionally, Dr. Kumar will also speak on the topic "Newer antimicrobial therapeutics to combat antimicrobial resistance" during the pre-conference workshop on Ocular Infections, "Rising Peril and the Big Picture," on July 27.

He was invited to speak because of his work in the area of molecular mechanisms of host immune response.

"When I was doing my Ph.D. in India, to my knowledge there was not much emphasis on vision and ophthalmology research in India. IERG truly is the force in promoting eye research in the country. I congratulate them on this special occasion of their 25th anniversary of hard work and dedication. I am looking forward to see the enthusiasm and witness the show case of outstanding vision research being conducted by Indian scientists and trainees," he said.

Dr. Kumar's laboratory studies host-pathogen interactions in microbial infection, specifically to advance knowledge in area of preventing and/or treating potential blindness caused by microbial pathogens such as bacteria, fungi and viruses. His research is largely concentrated on ways to enhance host innate immunity to fight against infection.

His research program is supported by two R01 grants from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health (EY026964 and EY027381) as well as a R21 (AI 35583) from the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.