SASTRA, deemed to be a university, at Thirumalaisamudhram near here has announced that it would soon offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Optometry.In an official release, SASTRA said it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chennai-based Dr. Agarwal’s Institute of Optometry (DAIO) on July 13 to foster academic collaboration by offering undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. The multidisciplinary academic partnership enables learners to acquire experimental and clinical skills leveraging SASTRA’s intellectual and infrastructure strengths in basic sciences and technology, together with the clinical expertise at DAIO.Under the initiative, B.Sc., M.Sc., and PhD programmes in Optometry would be launched..The MoU also emphasizes on collaborative research aimed at advancing translational research and developing innovative interventions for vision care.While SASTRA Vice-Chancellor S. Vaidhyasubramaniam said the social impact by way of free optometry healthcare camps and corrective action was aligned with both the institution’s effort to provide high quality ophthalmic care to the needy sections of society, DAIO Dean Karpagam said the research collaboration in the area of precision diagnostics using an AI based approach was another significant dimension of this MoU, the release added. Published - July 13, 2026 08:21 pm IST