[1] Rangaswamy started her work as a senior research officer in the study sponsored by the Indian Council of Medical Research “Factors affecting course and outcome of schizophrenia“ at the Department of Psychiatry, Madras Medical College.

[citation needed] In 1984, she cofounded an NGO Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF) at Chennai, India along with Sarada Menon and S.Rajkumar.

She is now the Vice Chairman of the Board of SCARF and the Chair of all research and dementia related activities.

Her Madras Longitudinal Study which has followed up persons with first episode schizophrenia for 35 years is one of its kind in the world.

She is on the editorial committee of several journals including the Schizophrenia Bulletin and Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.