Lorrene Ritchie, PhD, RD, is the inaugural Director of the Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI) and Cooperative Extension Specialist in the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The mission of NPI is to improve nutrition and reduce obesity, food insecurity and chronic disease risk in children and their families in diverse settings. NPI provides nutrition policy leadership built from ANR's numerous research and education activities, and works in synergy with research and outreach efforts being conducted throughout the UC system. Dr. Ritchie’s current research interests include evaluation of the relationship of school-level programs and policies on student dietary intakes, the impact of policy on nutrition practices in child care settings, the relationship of community-level programs and policies with child nutrition and weight status, and the impact of WIC nutrition education on child feeding practices.