Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in the Southeast: epidemiology, special topics, and opportunities for prevention

The presenter, Dr. May, has been and is the principal investigator of clinical and epidemiologic studies funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to research the characteristics of the continuum of FASD in the general populations of South Africa, United States, and Italy. He and his colleagues have focused on refining the diagnostic criteria for the FASD continuum, defining maternal risk and protective factors for FASD, and uncovering and quantifying the wide variation of outcomes and phenotypic traits of children who have been exposed to alcohol in the prenatal period. He will present data on studies of first grade children in the United States overall, South Africa, and focus on findings on FASD among children and their mothers in a county in the Southeastern region of the USA. FASD are prevalent today in the United States and are pernicious health disparities that no individual should have to endure.