LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -- Officials in the Lawrence area are getting some academic help evaluating the effectiveness of health policies and systems.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department has a new partnership with the University of Kansas Work Group on Community Health and Development. The effort is called the Academic Health Department.

The university says it's the first in Kansas and one of only a few in the country.

Assistant research professor Vickie Collie-Akers will have an office at the health department. She says the goal is to create a shared research agenda.

The university says the Academic Health Department will also function like a teaching hospital for students in applied behavioral psychology.