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.

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).

Recognition
Cherian was honorary surgeon to the President of India from 1990 to 1993. He was awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1991. He received a Wockhardt Medical Excellence Award in 2005, through a panel organised by Harvard Medical School. He has also received honorary professorships from universities in China.