STARKVILLE, Miss. -- An award-winning program within the Mississippi State University Extension Service will welcome a new leader July 1.

Latara Arterberry, a newly appointed MSU Extension specialist, will assume the role of principal investigator for the program Advancing, Inspiring, Motivating for Community Health through Extension, or AIM for CHangE.

For the past six years, David Buys led the program, which unites community councils and university faculty and staff to develop grassroots, needs-based policies and programs for reducing obesity. AIM for CHangE is made possible with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Arterberry received her doctoral degree from MSU in public policy and administration. She earned a Master of Business Administration from Alcorn State University and bachelor’s degrees in business administration and management from the Mississippi University for Women and in biological sciences from MSU.

Arterberry worked with Buys in the early days of the AIM for CHangE program as its business coordinator and the business manager for the MSU Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion before pursuing her doctorate.

Buys was recently named associate vice provost for health sciences at MSU.

“Latara is a perfect fit to assume leadership for this grant-funded program, especially as the focus has increasingly turned toward policy development,” Buys said. “She has my full confidence and support as she leads our talented team in organizing concerned community members in several counties to make physical activity, transportation, nutritious foods and safe outdoor spaces available to Mississippians of all ages.”

Learn more at http://msuext.ms/aim.