Dr. López received her Ph.D. in virology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1986. From 1989 to 1993, she was assistant professor of molecular biology at the Center for Research on Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Cuernavaca, Mexico. From 1992 to 1993, she was a Fogarty Fellow in the Division of Biology of the California Institute of Technology. She received the National Science Award from the Mexican Academy of Sciences in 1994, UNESCO's Carlos J. Finlay Prize for Microbiology in 2001, and the Biennial Prize in Gastrointestinal Diseases from the Fundación Mexicana para la Salud in 2002. In 2004, the National University of Mexico awarded her the "Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz" Medal, which honors the university's most outstanding female professors. She is currently professor in the Developmental Genetics and Molecular Physiology Department of the Institute of Biotechnology, National Autonomous University of Mexico. This is her second HHMI award.

Rotaviruses cause severe diarrhea in young children worldwide. Susana López is interested in several aspects of the interaction between the rotavirus and the host cell, including the mechanism of virus entry into cells, transcription and replication of the viral genome, and the mechanism by which the virus takes over the translation machinery of the cell.