Abigail Morgan’s mama and daddy knew early on she’d need heart surgery to repair life-threatening defects.

Every day at South Delta Middle School in Anguilla, Tammy Fordham Bell tries to fill the gap in health-care services and education in a rural Delta county where there are no pediatricians.

Two of the nation’s biggest health issues – obesity and dementia – are the target of the latest investigation to come from the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Specifically, Dr. Gwen Windham is looking for evidence of obesity as a potential risk factor for developing dementia later in life.