Meet Dr. Sreehari M. Nair

Dr. Sreehari M. Nair is a physician, public health expert and healthcare strategist specializing in maternal and child health. He continues to transform pediatric heart care through sharing his expertise and experience from the Hridyam for Little Hearts project.

Innovating Hridyam for Little Hearts

In 2017, when Dr. Sreehari was the state nodal officer for child health at the Kerala Department of Health, he began an impactful partnership with Children’s HeartLink that demonstrates how heart care can be transformed in resource-limited regions.

In collaboration with Children’s HeartLink, he oversaw the development and implementation of Hridyam for Little Hearts, a first-of-its kind comprehensive management system for the real-time detection and referral of patients with congenital heart disease and other birth defects.

This system ensures that every baby born in the state of Kerala is screened and that referrals are tracked for prioritized follow-up care.

This program, in conjunction with other interventions developed to improve infant survival, helped reduce Kerala’s infant mortality rate from 12 per 1,000 live births to 6 per 1,000 live births. Learn more about Hridyam’s impact.

Dr. Sreehari sharing highlights from the Kerala, India program on congenital conditions at the 2024 World Health Assembly.

Global Advocate for Pediatric Heart Care

Dr. Sreehari presented the Hyridyam project at the 8th and 9th World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology  and Cardiac Surgery conferences, and the project was also published in high-impact journals. He’s also developed a care pathway involving neurodevelopment outcomes as a follow-up to the Kerala health system-specific protocol for screening and management of children with congenital heart disease.

And since 2025, Dr. Sreehari has been a member of a technical working group reviewing evidence to create a WHO framework for newborn screenings in low- and middle-income countries, which would include the early detection and intervention of congenital heart disease.

As a champion of pediatric health, he continues to advocate with Children’s HeartLink to expand access to pediatric heart care through transformative policy—sharing his expertise and the incredible impact of the Hridyam Project within India and beyond.

Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect in India, affecting 240,000 children each year. An estimated 144,000 infants urgently need heart procedures annually—yet 90% lack access to the care they need.

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