Guadalupe X. "Suchi" Ayala, PhD, MPH is a Professor in the Division of Health Promotion in the Graduate School of Public Health at San Diego State University, Co-Director of the San Diego Prevention Research Center, and Senior Core Investigator of the Institute for Behavioral and Community Health. She has an MA in Experimental Social Psychology (1997), an MPH in Health Promotion (2002) and a PhD in Clinical Health Psychology from the San Diego State University-University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program (2002). She completed her clinical residency at the University of Washington, School of Medicine and began her faculty career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Public Health. Currently, she is Principal Investigator of five interventions targeting diet, physical activity, and chronic disease management, and one observational study on Latino youth. The first study, funded by the National Cancer Institute, is testing the efficacy of an environmental change intervention in grocery stores to increase access to and sales of fruits and vegetables, as well as consumption among store customers. The second study, funded by the American Cancer Society, is testing the efficacy of an intervention to improve family functioning to promote consumption of fruits and vegetables. The third study, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through the San Diego Prevention Research Center, is testing the effectiveness of a promotor-based intervention to promote physical activity among residents of South San Diego County. The fourth study, funded by the Peers for Progress network, is evaluating a volunteer peer support intervention to promote diabetes control. In September 2011, she was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to lead one of three studies to address the problem of childhood obesity. In addition to her intervention research, she is PI of a multi-site epidemiological study examining the health of children of parents involved in the NHLBI-funded Hispanic Community Health Study (Proyecto SOL). Her research activities have produced over 80 manuscripts and book chapters. She teaches courses in health communication and grant writing to doctoral students.