Dr. Santanam is a Professor of Pharmacology in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Toxicology and Director of the Cardiovascular Diseases, Obesity, Diabetes research cluster, at the Joan C Edwards School of Medicine, Marshall University. She received a B.S. in Chemistry (1984) from Meenakshi College for Women, M.S in Bio-Chemistry (1986) from Dr. ALM Postgraduate Institutes of Basic Medical Sciences and Ph.D. (1992) from Christian Medical College, Madras University, India. She received a MPH from Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University in 2004. She was a postdoctoral fellow (1993-1997) and Assistant Professor (1997-2003) at Emory University. She then joined the Department of Pathology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, N. Orleans as an Associate Professor from 2003-2006. She moved to Marshall University in 2006. Dr. Santanam's research has centered on mechanisms of diet and oxidative stress in cardiovascular disease, obesity and endometriosis. She has co-authored over 56 peer-reviewed publications, 9 review articles, 5 book chapters, one Health related video on endometriosis and almost 75 research presentations in regional, national and international meetings. She has obtained funding from American Heart Association and National Institutes of Health (NIH). She is a member of several professional societies including Society of Free Radical in Biology & Medicine (SFRBM) and Fellow of American Heart Association. She is a co-chair of the Mentoring Program of Women in Science Committee of SFRBM. She has served on expert review panels on NIH study sections including, NIH-Integrative Physiology of Obesity and Diabetes, NIH-Atherosclerosis and Inflammation in Cardiovascular Sciences, Special emphasis panel of NIH-National Institutes of Aging, NIH-Research Challenge grants. She has also served as grant reviewer for Department of Veterans Affairs and American Heart Association. She has served as a reviewer for several Medical journals including Atherosclerosis, Atherosclerosis Thrombosis Vascular Biology and Journal of Lipid Research.