Santos leads a research team of medicinal chemistry and the ultimate goal of her basic research is the development of general synthetic methods and strategies, and their application to the synthesis of bioactive molecules. Main achievements of Santos’s lab include the discovery of highly potent and selective MDM2-p53 interaction inhibitors, and novel indole-based scaffolds with antimalarial activity, as well as the development of heterocycles that act as NMDA receptor antagonists. She has also been involved in several research projects in collaboration with Hovione Pharmaceutical, including the optimization of synthetic process to obtain APIs.