Children’s Trust of South Carolina Board Member Ramkumar “Ram” Jayagopalan, MD, FAAP, received the 2026 Ray E. Helfer, MD, Award, at the recent annual meeting of the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance.
The Alliance and the American Academy of Pediatrics give the annual award to a pediatrician who has helped prevent child abuse before it occurs, primarily through work with a state children’s trust fund.
This national honor is named for the late Ray Helfer, MD, a pediatrician, educator and pioneer in the prevention of child abuse, who championed the idea that “Children’s Trust Funds” should be created in each state to fund critical child abuse prevention work.
Children’s Trust CEO Sue Williams celebrates Dr. Ram’s recognition, saying, “Dr. Ram has spent more than two decades caring for children and families and working to advance how pediatricians recognize and respond to trauma.” Williams continued, “We are very grateful for the leadership he brings to our board and to the children and families in South Carolina.”
Serving the Midlands for More Than 20 years
Dr. Ram is a board-certified pediatrician at Carolina Pediatrics & Adolescent Care in Columbia. In his practice, he emphasizes early identification, family support, trauma-informed care and connections to community resources. He has cared for children and families affected by toxic stress, mental health challenges and obesity. He trained at Kilpauk Medical College in Chennai, India, and completed his pediatric residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago.
Improving Care Across the State
Since 2019, Dr. Ram has served as medical director of Quality Through Technology and Innovation in Pediatrics (QTIP), a pediatric quality improvement collaborative within the South Carolina Department of Public Health. QTIP helps practices integrate evidence into daily routines and build clinicians’ mental health skills. Its work also includes safe sleep, postpartum depression screening, oral health, immunizations, obesity prevention, vaping prevention and asthma.
He co-authored “Suicide Risk Screening in Pediatric Primary Care: A Quality Improvement Collaborative Approach,” which describes a collaborative that trained clinicians, increased adherence to screening, and helped practices manage risk in the office. He has also served on the external board for the South Carolina Office of Suicide Prevention’s Communities of Care grant and is a member of the National Improvement Partnership Network.
Through the South Carolina Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (SCAAP), where he serves as vice president and incoming president, Dr. Ram has helped advance trauma-informed care in pediatric medical homes. The goal is for medical professionals to recognize the effects of trauma, avoid re-traumatizing patients, support caregivers, and connect families with help before problems escalate. He has also participated in patient-reported outcomes studies and partnered with a local school district as a Doc Adopt Champion. SCAAP presented him with its Special Achievement Award in 2014 and its President’s Award in 2025.
Bringing a Clinician’s View to Prevention Policy
Dr. Ram has advocated for trauma-informed care, foster care advocacy, suicide prevention, home visiting and pediatric quality improvement, all of which support the award’s central purpose: preventing harm by strengthening families and communities before a crisis occurs.
Dr. Ram is an at-large member of the Children’s Trust board of directors and has chaired its Policy Committee. He has testified before the South Carolina Joint Citizens and Legislative Committee on Children on the value of investing in home visiting. In 2023, he wrote an op-ed, “Expanding home visiting services can save more SC babies,” linking voluntary home visiting to lower infant mortality, fewer cases of abuse and neglect, fewer emergency room visits, and safer sleep practices.
Pediatricians, he has noted, are trusted by families and well-positioned to spot concerns early and make asking for help feel normal. Prevention also depends on public investments that put those supports within reach before harm occurs. His work with Children’s Trust connects the two.
“We are very grateful for the active and meaningful work Dr. Ram has done in South Carolina and were honored to nominate him for this award,” said Williams.