Dr. K. M. Cherian is a cardiac surgeon in India and the United States. He has worked at Christian Medical College Hospital in Vellore, the University of Oregon, and the Yangzhou University in China. He is currently the chairman and CEO of the International Centre for Cardio Thoracic and Vascular Diseases and the Dr. K. M. Cherian Heart Foundation at the Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre in India. From 1990 to 1993, he was the honorary surgeon to India's president. He has performed over 36,000 surgeries, including India's first heart transplant after brain death, the first bilateral lung transplant, India's first pediatric heart transplant and the nation's first heart and lung double transplant. As a humanitarian gesture, Dr. Cherian operated on 20 Iraqi children with complex heart defects. He is the first and only member from India of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine in London, England.

• Honorary Surgeon to the President of India
• Recipient of Hon.Degree, DOCTOR OF SCIENCE conferred by the Tamil Nadu Dr.MGR Medical University
• Recipient of Hon.Degree, DOCTOR OF SCIENCE (Honoris Causa) conferred by King George's Medical University, Lucknow
• The First and the only Indian's name engraved in one of the stones in Kos Island, Greece, the birth place of the medical professional, Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine", on the occasion of World Society of Cardio Thoracic Surgeons held between 30th April – 3rd May.
• The first INDIAN elected as the president of the World Society of Cardio Thoracic Surgeons for the year 2010-11
• Recipient of Hon.Degree, DOCTOR OF SCIENCE (Honoris Causa) conferred by Pondicherry University, Pondicherry.