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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The University of Mississippi Medical Center has been awarded a record-high grant to study obesity, one of the state's most pressing health issues.
Medical center officials said in a news release Thursday that it will receive $19.9 million over five years from the National Institutes of Health to fund the Mississippi Center for Clinical and Translational Research.
The new center will focus on studying the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of obesity. The topic is especially pertinent in Mississippi because the state has the highest rate of obesity in the nation.
The grant is the largest the medical center has ever received.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 35 percent of Mississippi adults are obese.
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