Candidate for
State Senator; District 10

Twenty years ago Roman Reed crushed a vertebra in his spine during a community college football game. The tackle took a second, and in that instant he went from dreaming of a career in the NFL to complete loss of the use of his legs and partial use of his hands. In his hospital room his doctor told him he would never walk again or be able to have children. Roman went on to earn his degree from U.C. Berkeley, marry his college sweetheart and become the proud father of three children.

Roman also dedicated the rest of his life to walking again, serving his community and finding cures for devastating neurological conditions like his. To date, no one has done more to advance medical research into cures for spinal cord injuries and other debilitating injuries and diseases faced by millions of Americans. He sponsored Roman's Law in the California state legislature, making California first in the nation to establish funding for stem cell research. He was the sponsor of Proposition 71, which generated $3 billion for medical research and created the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). In the years since Roman began advocating for medical research, he has helped generate hundreds of millions more in private dollars for medical researchers in California. The programs he created have generated almost 100,000 jobs statewide.

Roman Reed is currently the Executive Director of the Stanford Partnership for Spinal Cord Injury & Repair and the Roman Reed Foundation. He is also the sponsor of the Roman Reed Core Laboratory at the U.C. Irvine-Christopher Reeve Research Center and he is currently the president of the Alabama Institute of Medicine at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

In his community of Fremont, Roman has a strong record of accomplishments for children and families. As a Parks & Recreation Commissioner, Reed spearheaded renovation of 14 parks and construction of 2 new sports fields with all weather surfaces that are safer youth. He also led efforts to open Fremont's Aqua Adventure Aquatic Park, which provides a unique new activity for families and is generating significant new revenues for the city.

Roman also knows the how invaluable a strong public education system is for the well being of the community. Roman comes from a family dedicated to public education and physical health. His wife Terri is a special education teacher in the Fremont Unified School District, and his parents Don and Gloria are both retired public school teachers. Don was twice named California Teacher of the Year. Reed's sister Desiree was recently named Athletic Director for the University of Cincinnati. He plans to work tirelessly on behalf of the people of California to ensure everyone has access to a quality education from Preschool to the time they graduate college.

Roman and Terri live in the house in which he grew up with their three children. His oldest son Roman Jr. is graduating from Kennedy High School with a 4.2 GPA and will play baseball at U.C. Berkeley next year with a full scholarship.