Krishnamurthy Bonanthaya is a Maxillofacial surgeon with over three decades of experience. His subspeciality area of interest is Cleft lip and palate
deformities .

He believes that empathy towards patients is the cornerstone for an ethical practice and strives to achieve this in practice

He built the Smile Train supported Cleft leadership Center and over the years, his team has performed over 10,000 fully funded cleft procedures. He was the program's project director from 2005 - 2023 (Feb) and was the fellowship director for over 25 cleft surgeons during this period. The fellowship programs are run under the auspices of the Rajiv Gandhi University of health sciences and the International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. His trainees are successful cleft surgeons in different parts of the world. Over the years, he has also engaged in clinical research and has tried to contribute - through his publications of this research -to the body of evidence for management of cleft deformities .

He is also a Professor of Maxillofacial Surgery at the Bangalore Institute of Dental Sciences.

He is the former President of the Indian Society for Cleft Lip Palate and Craniofacial anomalies (ISCLPCA) and the Indian Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (AOMSI). In addition, he is the president of the International Board for Certification of Specialists in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

He also is the Chairman of the Indian medical advisory council for Smile Train.