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Milken Institute School of Public Health

 

Carmen Ortega-Santos

COS

Carmen Ortega-Santos

Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Full-time Faculty

School: Milken Institute School of Public Health

Department: Exercise and Nutrition Sciences

Contact:

Office Phone: 202-994-2757
Milken Institute School of Public Health Office 211, 950 New Hampshire Avenue, NW Washington DC 20052

Dr. Carmen Ortega-Santos is an Assistant Professor in the Exercise and Nutrition Sciences Department. Dr. Ortega-Santos joined the Milken Institute School of Public Health in Spring 2024. Before joining the Milken Institute School of Public Health, Dr. Ortega-Santos was a T32 postdoctoral fellow at the University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical campus and the Colorado Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC) for two years and a half. She previously earned her Ph.D. in Exercise and Nutritional Sciences at Arizona State University, focusing on the synergistic and independent effects of nutrition and exercise on the gut microbiome. Dr. Ortega-Santso holds her Master of Science in Integrative Physiology from Universitat de Barcelona, Spain, and is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. She has practiced weight management and sports nutrition, predominantly with female athletes.

Dr. Ortega-Santos’s research focuses on coupling nutrition with exercise prescription for modifying the gut microbiome to improve metabolic health, with a particular interest in female adults with obesity. In addition, Dr. Ortega-Santos researches gut health in the athletic population through prebiotics.

Dr. Ortega-Santos is an affiliated faculty member of the Global Food Institute at GW.

Outstanding Graduate Mentorship Award, GPSA, Arizona State University 

2nd Oral Communication Presentation on  “Substrate oxidation in women during endurance exercise throughout the menstrual cycle phases: IronFEMME pilot study.” International Symposium in Strength Training. 16 to Dec 17 2016, Madrid (Spain)

BS, Human Nutrition and Dietetics at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

MS, Integrative Physiology at Universitat de Barcelona

PhD, Exercise and Nutritional Sciences at Arizona State University

T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship in Metabolism, Obesity, and Type 2 Diabetes at the University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Campus

Ortega-Santos, CP*; Pinto, Ana J*; Pan, Zhaoxing; Whipple, Mary P; Boyle, Kristen; Melanson, Edward L; Masters, Kevin; Bessesen, Daniel H; Bergouignan, Audrey. Breaking up Sedentary Time to Improve Glucose Control in a Population at Risk for Developing Type 2 Diabetes (BURST2D): Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Clinical Trials. [In-press]

Ortega-Santos, CP.; Al-Nakkash, Layla; Whisner, Corrie M. Exercise and/or Genistein Treatment Impact Gut Microbiota after 24 Weeks on a High-Fat, High-Sugar Diet in C57BL/6 male mice. Microorganisms. 2022; 10 (11): 2221. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms10112221. PMID: 36363813

Ortega-Santos, CP.; Al-Nakkash, L.; Whisner, C.M. Exercise and/or Genistein Treatment Impact Gut Microbiota and Inflammation after 12 Weeks on a High-Fat, High-Sugar Diet in C57BL/6 Mice. Nutrients 2020, 12, 3410. PMID: 33172007

Ortega-Santos CP, and Whisner CM. The Key to Successful Weight Loss on a High-Fiber Diet May Be in Gut Microbiome Prevotella Abundance. Journal of Nutrition. 2019:149(12): 2083-2084.doi: 10.1093/jn/nxz248. PMID: 31584088

Ortega-Santos CP, Barba-Moreno L, Cupeiro R, Peinado Lozano AB. Substrate oxidation in female adults during endurance exercise throughout menstrual cycle phases: IronFEMME pilot study. Journal Human Sport Exercise. 2018;13(3):553-565. doi:10.14198/jhse.2018.133.07. 

Wardenaar, Floris C; Schott, Kinta D; Mohr, Alex E; Ortega-Santos, CP; Connolly, Jonh E. Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Collegiate Division I American Football Athletes. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2023, 20(15), 6453; DOI: 3390/ijerph20156453. 

Mohr AE, Jäger R, Carpenter KC, Kerksick CM, Purpura M, Townsend JR, West NP, Black K, Gleeson M, Pyne DB, Wells SD, Arent SM, Kreider RB, Campbell BI, Bannock L, Scheiman J, Wissent CJ, Pane M, Kalman DS, Pugh JN, Ortega-Santos CP, Ter Haar JA, Arciero PJ, Antonio J. The athletic gut microbiota. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2020 May 12;17(1):24. doi: 10.1186/s12970-020-00353-w. PMID: 32398103.

TBD

Nutrition, Dietetics, Obesity and Metabolic Disorders, Gut Health, Metabolism

RDN, Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist in Spain and the US.