Dr. Kotturathu Mammen Cherian (K.M. Cherian; 8 March 1942 – 25 January 2025) was a pioneering Indian cardiac surgeon, widely regarded as one of the fathers of modern heart surgery and paediatric cardiac surgery in the country. He performed India’s first successful coronary artery bypass surgery and the country’s first heart-lung transplant. The Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri in 1991.

Born on 8 March 1942 in Kayamkulam, near Chengannur in Kerala, to Mammen and Mariam of the Kotturathu family, he completed his MBBS (1964) and MS in General Surgery (1969) from Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore. He then trained extensively overseas, obtaining his FRACS at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, Australia, and further specialised training at Green Lane Hospital (New Zealand), the University of Alabama (USA) and the University of Oregon.

Returning to India, Dr. Cherian began his career as a lecturer in surgery at Christian Medical College, Vellore. In 1975 he performed India’s first successful coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, a landmark that opened the door for modern cardiac surgery in the country. He went on to carry out the first series of infant cardiac operations, the first arterial switch for transposition of the great arteries, the first trans-atrial repair of tetralogy of Fallot, India’s first heart-lung transplant, and the first paediatric heart transplant.

He founded the Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and later Frontier Lifeline Hospital in Chennai, where he continued to perform complex procedures and train generations of cardiac surgeons. Over his career he is credited with more than 36,000 cardiac operations. He also introduced the Physician Assistant profession in India in 1992.

“Heart surgery is not just about the technical act,” he often told his teams. “It is about giving a child or an adult the chance to live a full life.”

Dr. Cherian served as Honorary Surgeon to the President of India from 1990 to 1993. He was the first Indian to be elected President of the World Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons and was inducted into the Founder Circle of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery. He received numerous other honours, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from Kasturba Medical College and the Wockhardt Medical Excellence Award. His name is engraved on a stone at Kos Island in Greece, the birthplace of Hippocrates—one of only a few Indian surgeons to receive this distinction.

A biography of his life, A Hand of God, was published in 2015. Dr. K.M. Cherian passed away on 25 January 2025 in Bengaluru at the age of 82. He left behind a lasting legacy of surgical innovation, institution-building and the training of countless heart surgeons who continue his work across India and beyond.