Training center targets fetal alcohol syndrome

UAA research center wins $1 million CDC grant for 1st-in-Alaska regional training center

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, or FASD, is one of the most disheartening and tragic diseases to afflict human beings, for we first encounter it in the very youngest children, newborns. Moreover, it is completely preventable, caused by the mother's consumption of alcoholic beverages during pregnancy.

The prevalence of FASD in Alaska is higher than in many other states, according to Dr. Christiane Brems of UAA, professor of psychology and co-director of Behavioral Health Research and Services (BHRS). In Alaska, the rate of infants who enter the world with a range of concerns and challenges to warrant a diagnosis of FASD is 1.5 of every 1,000 live births. (Those born with what is termed fetal alcohol exposure, or relatively mild symptoms, are born at the rate of 16.3 of every 1,000 live births.) Read more.