Donna Santillan, PhD
Director, Division of Reproductive Science Research, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Introduction
My work is focused on improving the health of women during and after pregnancy. To assist in accomplishing this objective, I direct the Women's Health Tissue Repository, a high-quality longitudinal collection of biological samples and clinical information from all stages of women's lives. My own research focuses on the effects of vaping during pregnancy. In addition, we study the long-term effects of hypertension in pregnancy to the mother and child.
Current Positions
- Vice Chair for Research, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Research Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology - Reproductive Science Research
- Director, Division of Reproductive Science Research
- Associate Director of Workforce Development, Institute for Clinical and Translational Science
Education
- BA in History, Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois
- BS in Chemistry, Biochemistry Emphasis, Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois
- PhD in Biomedical Sciences-Molecular Biology, Loyola University, Maywood, Illinois
Center, Program and Institute Affiliations
Research Interests
- Tissue Banking
- Role of the Placenta in Child and Maternal Health
- Biomarkers in Pregnancy
- Effects of Maternal Disease on the Health of the Child
- Effects of changes to the research curriculum of OB/Gyn residents
- Women's Health Tissue Repository
- Role of the Maternal Immune System in Preeclampsia
Selected Publications
- Godfrey K, McDanel D, Percival K, Bowdler N, Santillan D, Dowden A. Screening for penicillin allergy in obstetric patients to optimize guideline directed therapy. Antimicrob Steward Healthc Epidemiol. 2025 Jun 11;5(1):e125. doi: 10.1017/ash.2025.10033. PMID: 40528937; PMCID: PMC12171906. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antimicrobial-stewardship-and-healthcare-epidemiology/article/screening-for-penicillin-allergy-in-obstetric-patients-to-optimize-guideline-directed-therapy/CDCE97074197EB768BB591A3A8A439A5
- Gumusoglu S, Blaine B, Bertolli A, Weber MA, Kamal M, Hazzard H, Schickling B, Lauffer M, Zhang Y, Taylor R, Kirkpatrick K, Santillan D, Aldridge G, Santillan M. Integrated multi-omics analysis reveals immunovascular mechanisms of the placenta-maternal brain axis and lifespan neurobehavior changes in a mouse model of preeclampsia. Neuroscience. 2025 May 24;579:69-84. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2025.05.301. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40419084. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306452225006657?via%3Dihub
- Xue B, Gumusoglu SB, Tiarks G, Todd BP, Wong A, Santillan DA, Kuo CC, Chiang HY, Ravindranath R, Wang SY, Mahajan VB, Johnson AK, Davis HA, Ferguson P, Newell EA, Santillan MK, Misurac JM, Bassuk AG. Gestational hypertension increases risk of seizures in children and mice. J Clin Invest. 2025 Jun 16;135(12):e183393. doi: 10.1172/JCI183393. PMID: 40519163; PMCID: PMC12165801. https://www.jci.org/articles/view/183393
- Nuckols VR, Davis KG, Santillan MK, Santillan DA, Pierce GL. Long term effects of parity on maternal autonomic function. Auton Neurosci. 2025 May 2;260:103285. doi: 10.1016/j.autneu.2025.103285. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40334523. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1566070225000475?via%3Dihub
- Santillan DA, Jacobus LS, Henry MD, Weiner GJ, Winokur PL, Knosp BM, Davis HA. Building and implementation of a common infrastructure for specimen and data storage at an academic medical center. J Clin Transl Sci. 2025 Mar 19;9(1):e76. doi: 10.1017/cts.2025.43. PMID: 40384744; PMCID: PMC12083205. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12083205/
- Goulopoulou S, Santillan DA, Unternaehrer J. Women's Cardiovascular Health at Risk: An Urgent Call to Protect the U.S. Biomedical Research System and Prevent Setbacks in Women's Health Research. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2025 May 19. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00182.2025. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40388348. https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/ajpheart.00182.2025
- Schickling B, Santillan MK, Santillan DA. Alternative splicing of CADM1 in preeclampsia: implications for endothelial dysfunction and offspring cardiovascular risk. Physiol Genomics. 2025 Jul 1;57(7):403-405. doi: 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00047.2025. Epub 2025 Apr 4. PMID: 40183784. https://journals.physiology.org/doi/pdf/10.1152/physiolgenomics.00047.2025
- Gumusoglu SB, Schickling BM, Santillan DA, Teesch LM, Santillan MK. Disrupted fetal carbohydrate metabolism in children with autism spectrum disorder. J Neurodev Disord. 2025 Mar 29;17(1):16. doi: 10.1186/s11689-025-09601-z. PMID: 40158086; PMCID: PMC11954230. https://jneurodevdisorders.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s11689-025-09601-z
- Costello S, Santillan D, Awelewa T, Bowdler N. Influence of Race and Ethnicity on Meeting Intention to Exclusively Breast Milk Feed at Postpartum Hospital Discharge. Breastfeed Med. 2025 Mar 26. doi: 10.1089/bfm.2024.0392. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40135281.
- Xie J, Yan Y, Ye Z, Wu Y, Yu Y, Sun Y, Rong S, Santillan DA, Ryckman K, Snetselaar LG, Liu B, Bao W. Racial/ethnic disparities in the association of maternal diabetes and obesity with risk of preterm birth among 17 million mother-infant pairs in the United States: a population-based cohort study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2025 Mar 21;25(1):333. doi: 10.1186/s12884-025-07352-2. PMID: 40119308; PMCID: PMC11929260. https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-025-07352-2