Dr. Gopalan is an Associate Professor in the departments of Applied Health, Primary Care, and Health Systems.

She received her Ph.D. from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. She has been teaching in the areas of anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology at both the graduate and undergraduate levels for health professional programs. Dr. Gopalan has been practicing evidence-based teaching using team-based learning, case-based learning, and the flipped classroom methods. She has received many teaching awards including the Arthur C. Guyton Educator of the Year award from the American Physiological Society (APS), Outstanding Two-Year College Teaching award by the National Association of Biology Teachers, and Excellence in Undergraduate Education award by SIUE. She has also received several grants including an NSF-IUSE, an NSF-STEM Talent Expansion Program, and the APS Teaching Career Enhancement awards. Besides teaching and research, Dr. Gopalan enjoys mentoring not only her students but also her peers. She regularly conducts workshops and participates in panel discussions related to higher education. Dr. Gopalan is very active in the teaching section of the APS and has served on many committees. She has published numerous manuscripts and case studies and contributed several textbook chapters and question banks for textbooks and board exams.