Lana Edwards Santoro, Ph.D.

Lana Edwards Santoro, Ph.D., is a Research Professor with the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development at Boston University. She helps direct National Center efforts, including the National Center on Improving Literacy and Lead for Literacy Center, to increase access to, and use of, evidence-based approaches to screen, identify, and teach students with literacy-related disabilities, including dyslexia. 

Lana also led a series of Institute of Education Sciences studies focused on the use of read alouds and classroom discourse to improve the vocabulary and comprehension of students at-risk of reading failure. Central to Lana’s work is the application of explicit and systematic “comprehension conversations” to literacy development, including literacy in reading and writing, emotional literacy, and the literacy of pain management. 

In her work with the Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association and International Research Consortium for Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, for example, Lana advocates for the application of evidence-based strategies, including mindfulness and “reading pain” (interoception) exercises, to support pain management, coping and resilience. 

Interested in the intersection of education, psychology, and mental health, Lana has taught in residential treatment and psychiatric settings with children and adults experiencing medically complex challenges and disabilities. Throughout her childhood and career as an educator, read alouds have always bookmarked her life.