Dr. S. Allen Counter, D.M.Sc., Ph.D., is Director of The Harvard Foundationof Harvard University and Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. He is also Neurophysiologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Counter is a native of West Palm Beach, Florida. Following academic training at Case Western Reserve University and post-doctoral studies in Neurobiology at Harvard, he joined the faculty of Biology (neurobiology). After several years of teaching undergraduate biology (pre-med) courses, graduate, and medical students, and creating a new neurobiology course at Harvard (Biology 128-Advanced Neurobiology), Dr. Counter was promoted to Associate Professor of Biology, and in 1981 was appointed to the professorial staff of the Harvard Medical School. He earned the Doctor of Medical Science (D.M.Sc.) degree from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1989, he was the recipient of the distinguished NAACP Image Award, and in 1994 the National Medical Association Hall of Fame Award. In 2003, Dr. Counter was appointed Visiting Professor of Neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2004, Dr. Counter was appointed Consul General of Sweden in Boston and New England by the King of Sweden and the Swedish Ambassador to the U.S.
As a neurophysiologist and member of the Harvard Medical School faculty (Neurology), Dr. Counter conducts both clinical and basic research studies on nerve and muscle physiology, auditory physiology, and neurophysiological diagnosis of brain-injured children and adults. Presently, his scientific research focuses on the neurobiological effects of lead and mercury exposure, magnetic resonance imaging of the auditory and vestibular (balance) systems and CNS, and multiple sclerosis (MS).
Dr. Counter is the founding Director of the Harvard Foundation, an agency established by the President and Deans of Harvard University in 1980 to improve intercultural understanding, equality, and peace among students, faculty, and the entire university community. The Harvard Foundation sponsors and conducts over 200 student and faculty programs each year that serve to inform the Harvard community on matters of culture, ethnicity, and international concerns.
Dr. Counter has published extensively in both cultural and scientific journals, including National Geographic and Scientific American. He has appeared on local and national television in numerous programs ranging from children's science shows ("3-2-1 Contact" and "Spaces") to talk shows. He is especially interested in increasing the scientific literacy of young people. To this end, he has presented talks and videos on science education to elementary, junior high, and high school students throughout the metropolitan Boston area and the nation. He has also lectured on topics in science, medical anthropology, ethics, and environmental health to scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, to Fulbright Scholars, and internationally in, The People's Republic of China, Sweden, Suriname, South America, Togo, West Africa, and Ecuador.
In addition to his scientific interests, he continues to work in the area of ethics in science and technology, nature conservation, and human rights at the international level. He has served as co-host of EcoForum, a nationally televised program on earth conservation. Dr. Counter has served as a member of the National Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Health and the National Institutes of Mental Health (appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services). Dr. Counter has also served as honorary Vice President of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and presently serves on boards of several organizations and institutions, including the Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center.
In September 2004, Dr. Counter was appointed Consul General of Sweden in Boston and New England by a decree from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and by Jan Eliasson, Ambassador of Sweden to the United States. Dr. Counter represents Sweden in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont.
 Dr. Counter explores caves in the gold-mining areas of Ecuador, where dangerous mercury is used to extract the ore. |  |  Dr. Counter works with native Amer-Indians who are suffering from lead poisoning in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador. |
Distinguished Actor and friend Will Smith visits Dr. Counter
at the Nobel Prize Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
Dr. Counter with sisters, noted Producer/Director Debbie Allen
(right) and Actress Phylicia Ayers-Allen Rashad.
USS ANNAPOLIS submarine, under Commander Michael Brunner USN, breaks through the ice at the North Pole on April 6th, 2009 to place the Cenntential Commemorative Discovery Case, created by Dr. S. Allen Counter.
Dr. Counter with dog team in Qaanaaq, Greenland, the northernmost inhabited Polar Inuit settlement on Earth.
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