WEST MILFORD West Milford resident, Diana Romero, PhD, was recently appointed to the US Food and Drug Agency (FDA) Obstetrics and Gynecology Devices Advisory Panel. Like other FDA advisory panels, Dr. Romero will serve as part of a group of experts in the field of reproductive health to review applications that come before the FDA, and vote on whether to recommend that the agency approve or deny them on the basis of the scientific data. She also recently served on a grant review panel for the national Centers for Disease Control and Health Promotion (CDC) in Atlanta. “I am very pleased and honored to receive this national appointment. This is an area where I have been conducting research for several years now and am eager to make more of a contribution.” said Romero. Romero is an assistant professor in Population and Family Health at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York. “I am so proud of Diana and that fact that someone from West Milford has been appointed to the FDA,” said Patrick Whitney, long-time friend and fellow resident. “To have someone of Diana’s caliber contributing on a national level is awesome”. On the international side of her work, she just spent the month of April at BRAC University in Bangladesh teaching research methods to an international group of students in a Masters program in public health. This was her second stint in Bangladesh, as she also taught there last year during the school’s inaugural year. “The work that Diana has done in Bangladesh is so important. To go to a developing country and teach about public health will benefit generations to come. The town is fortunate to have a resident public health professional who is recognized as such by both national and international organizations,” said Liz Walsh-Wong, also of West Milford. Romero has lived with her family in West Milford for the past 18 years. She is also a local community advocate. She has spoken out on many local issues and participated in local events concerning women’s health and social issues.