Ellington

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi State and the University of Mississippi Medical Center have launched a new partnership aimed at addressing the state's health care challenges.

A news release from Mississippi State says the new initiative will build on long-standing relationships between the universities to tackle problems including obesity, diabetes, and disparities in health care access.

The new partnership involves Mississippi State, the UM Medical Center and the Myrlie Evers-Williams Institute for the Elimination of Health Disparities.

Officials from those institutions gathered in Starkville on Monday to mark the beginning of the new partnership.