Lorrene D Ritchie

Lorrene Ritchie, PhD, RD, is the inaugural Director of the Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI) and Cooperative Extension Nutrition Specialist in the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The mission of NPI is to conduct research that informs nutrition policy and programs for healthy children, families, and communities. 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 has devoted her career to the development of interdisciplinary, science-based and culturally relevant solutions to poor diet and food security. She has conducted studies in numerous settings on the impact of nutrition policies and programs. 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, and the relationship of federal, state and community-level programs and policies with child nutrition, weight status and health.