Dr. Soumya Padala BDS, MDS, MS

Dr. Soumya Padala trained in orthodontics at The Ohio State University College of Dentistry and currently serves as a residency program director at the Dental College of Georgia at Augusta University. She is dually board certified in orthodontics and dental sleep medicine, and her clinical work includes interdisciplinary care ranging from nasoalveolar molding for infants with cleft lip and palate to collaboration with plastic surgeons, ENT surgeons, sleep surgeons, and oral and maxillofacial surgeons in complex cases, including care for patients with cleft craniofacial conditions, obstructive sleep apnea, and other special healthcare needs. After experiencing professional burnout, she found renewed purpose through the ideas, philosophy, and wisdom of Arianna Huffington. Inspired by the emphasis on connection, wonder, well-being, and behavior change, her research on loneliness, distress, and burnout among orthodontists emerged as a direct extension of Arianna Huffington’s work. Dr. Padala hopes to move that mission forward by using research, conversation, and meaningful behavior changes to help professionals reconnect with purpose, spirituality, well-being, and human flourishing—what Arianna Huffington calls thriving, rooted in the Greek word eudaimonia, described as the good life.