Two Menlo Park MDs start non-profit Invincikids

Menlo Park resident Singari Seshadri brought local non-profit Invincikids to our attention: “It was started by a team of pediatric anesthesiologists from Menlo Park who have committed to reducing pain and anxiety in children in healthcare settings worldwide.

“They’ve been using virtual reality technology to do this at Stanford for some years now and decided about a year ago to start a non-profit to be able to let hospitals, providers and patients around the world get access to this cutting edge approach at no cost. I joined them as a volunteer because I fell in love with their mission and passion.”

Tom Caruso, MD (pictured right) and Sam Rodriguez, MD are the two Stanford pediatric anesthesiologists who noticed that virtual reality and immersive technology were effective in soothing children before undergoing anesthesia.

“We are seeing the children of Menlo Park when they get sick,” said Sam, “and designed a tool for both different type of kids as well as different kinds of problems. The goal is to make it available to every kid.”

Tom explained that the non-profit is continually on the look for people to collaborate with them. “Some our philanthropic supporters have become part of the team,” he said. “These are people who offer their expertise and provide outreach support. We want to continue to develop this philanthropic aspect of Ivincikids.”

The founders are also hoping to involve software and hardware specialists. Learn more about involvement opportunities at Invincikids.org.

Top photo courtesy of Invincikids; photo of Tom Caruso by Robb Most (c) 2021