K. M. Cherian

K. M. Cherian is a leading Indian heart surgeon who has pioneered new treatments, founded new hospitals and earned an international reputation. He is the founding chairman of Frontier Lifeline based in Chennai, and the Dr K M Cherian Heart Foundation.

Dr. Cherian performed the first coronary artery bypass surgery in India in 1975. He also performed the country's second heart transplant, first infant cardiac surgery and the first heart and lung transplant (1999). He is also a pioneer in India having performed heart surgeires using tissue engineered conduits and used autologous stem cells in heart diseases.

Pioneering pediatric cardiac surgery in India, Dr. Cherian has performed more than 32,000 operations, a unique record in itself. With a passion to save lives, Dr. Cherian has pioneered the first coronary artery bypass surgery in India as well as the first heart transplant after the legislation of Brain Death in India; the first bilateral lung transplant; the first Pediatric Heart transplant; the first Auto transplant; and the first Heart and Lung transplant.(1999). He is the first Indian member of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, London, and an honorary member of the Malaysian Association for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, just to mention a few of his affiliations.