The National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome has inducted Jerome Romero, a principal investigator at the Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addictions (CASAA), into the Tom and Linda Daschle Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame honors the heroes living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and the families, advocates and researchers devoted to preventing and treating the disorder.
Photo: Jerome Romero
Established in 2005, the Hall of Fame was named for former U.S. Senator Tom Daschle and his wife, Linda Hall Daschle, as a tribute to their commitment and leadership in the fight to prevent alcohol-related birth defects and their long-standing support of NOFAS.
CASAA investigators do extensive research on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. They have federal research grants funding projects nationally and internationally. As part of their efforts in this field, they are actively involved with the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS).
For most of his career, Romero has focused on helping individuals with disabilities. Since 1995, Romero has served as the statewide director of the New Mexico Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Prevention Program Director, and he is a pioneer in FASD peer education.
As director, Romero has developed many FASD prevention activities and produced a number of public campaign slogans, accompanying public messages, and educational materials to educate women of child-bearing age on the dangers of drinking alcohol while pregnant. He travels around New Mexico working with a wide variety of stakeholders, high school students, prenatal clinics, foster care organizations, and community health workers.
Seven years ago, Romero began working with the FASD Center for Excellence, where he generously, and successfully, shared his project ideas and materials with other FASD organizations throughout the United States.
While Romero says all of his work is rewarding, he says his most beneficial project has been his FASD peer-education project in which he works with high school girls who have been pregnant or are pregnant and are trying to finish high school. Through this mission he works to convey the FASD prevention message and teaches the girls to warn their peers on the effects of drinking alcohol while pregnant.
“Through that process, not only do the peer trainers become educated on the importance of not drinking during pregnancy, but their message is then heard by many more high school students than I could ever reach personally” said Romero. “The message that is conveyed peer to peer carries a very special power.”
Romero is currently the Chairman of the National Association of State FASD Coordinators, a group under the FASD Center for Excellence. He also sits on the Center’s Expert Panel on FASD.
Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Posted by scarr at January 21, 2010 04:52 PM