Dr. Pekmezi is involved with several University-Wide Interdisciplinary Research Centers at UAB, as an Associate Scientist with the Nutrition Obesity Research Center, Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center and as a Scientist with the Diabetes Research and Training Center. She obtained a B.S. in Psychology at the University of Alabama and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Louisiana State University. Her primary research interests include chronic disease prevention and health communication. Her research thus far has focused on underserved populations and involved designing, implementing, and evaluating home-based physical activity interventions, grounded in the Social Cognitive Theory and Transtheoretical Model, for low income African Americans and Latinas.