Born in Chennai, India, Svetha spent a part of her childhood in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where she completed her high school education from The Indian High School in Dubai. She came to America in 1999 to pursue her further studies at De Anza College in Cupertino, California, and at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York. She received her B.S. degree with a major in molecular and cellular biology from Ohio University, Athens, Ohio. With her thesis focusing on nutrigenomics, Svetha will graduate in March 2008 with a Masters in Human and Consumer Sciences from Ohio University. Her research efforts have been aimed at gaining a better understanding of diet-induced obesity. She presented posters of her work at the Endocrine Society's Annual Scientific meeting (ENDO 2007, Toronto) and the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO 2007, Boston). She is a student member of the American Dietetic Association and the Endocrine Society. In May 2007, she won the Ohio University Outstanding Student Research and Creativity Award.

Svetha has volunteered extensively since middle school. Her experiences range from World Wildlife fund (WWF) sponsored 'Save the turtle' endeavors in Chennai and being a 'kids fire safety awareness' volunteer at the American Red Cross to volunteering as a paramedic with Rochester Institute of Technology's Ambulance Service. She served on the Undergraduate Students Senate at De Anza College and on the Graduate Students Senate at Ohio University.

Svetha came upon CARTHA's website in November 2007 and joined as a volunteer immediately thereafter. She also volunteers her time to Meals-on-Wheels in Cedar Rapids. She is trained in Carnatic music and enjoys reading books on several subjects ranging from Hinduism and Vedanta to Calligraphy and handwriting analysis. Svetha moved to Iowa in 2007 and lives in Cedar Rapids with her husband Sai, a Senior Systems Engineer at Rockwell Collins.