Dr. Krishna S Iyer

Dr. Krishna S Iyer is one of India's most experienced and internationally recognised pediatric cardiac surgeons. As Executive Director of Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute in Okhla, New Delhi, he has devoted his career to giving children with congenital heart disease — some of the most complex and delicate patients in all of medicine — the best possible chance at a full life.

After his medical training, Dr. Iyer joined the faculty of the cardiac surgery department at AIIMS, New Delhi. He then trained specifically in infant cardiac surgery in Australia, and on his return established the neonatal cardiac surgery programme at AIIMS — one of the first of its kind in the country. In 1995, Dr. Iyer began the first dedicated pediatric cardiac care programme in North India at EHIRC (now Fortis Escorts Heart Institute). Under his guidance, this programme has grown into a benchmark for children's cardiac care across India and its South-East Asian neighbours.

Dr. Iyer has operated on more than 14,000 patients with congenital heart diseases from all parts of India and international patients from over 15 countries. He performed the first successful rapid two-stage arterial switch and double-switch operations in India — complex transpositions of the great arteries that were among the most technically challenging congenital heart surgeries available. He has more than 100 research publications in national and international journals and regularly travels to deliver lectures at cardiac centres across Asia and internationally.

He is President of the Indian Association of Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgeons and President of the Society of Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery, recognitions that reflect his stature within the specialty.