Dr. Sandeep Attawar

Dr. Sandeep Attawar is Chair and Director of Thoracic Organ Transplants and Assist Devices at KIMS Institute for Heart & Lung Transplantation, Hyderabad. Born and raised in Ahmedabad, he completed his medical schooling and specialised in general surgery at Sheth K.M. School of Postgraduate Medicine, before specialising further in cardiac surgery at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences, Trivandrum.

He began his career setting up greenfield heart surgical programmes from 2001 onward, working with the Manipal Heart Foundation and Narayana Hrudayalaya before expanding into thoracic organ transplantation and mechanical circulatory support from 2011. He went on to lead the realignment of cardiac and respiratory services into dedicated heart and lung transplant centres at Gleneagles Global Hospitals across Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Mumbai, before moving to KIMS Hospitals as Founding Director of its Solid Thoracic Organ Transplant programme.

Under his leadership, his team has performed close to 217 thoracic organ transplants, including 134 double lung transplants, along with more than 28 left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implants. He specialises in cardiac failure and mechanical circulatory support, including Total Artificial Heart (TAH) and ventricular assist device implantation, and has performed complex cardiac surgeries in patients ranging from neonates to octogenarians.

Dr. Attawar is an active member of several international cardiothoracic forums, including the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT), the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), and the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS). He sits on an international panel of 24 experts who developed the ISHLT consensus guidelines for lung transplantation, followed by more than 250 hospitals worldwide.