Scientific Advisory Board
The Montel Williams MS Foundation relies on its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), a multidisciplinary group of leading neurologists and MS physician-scientists, to guide its proposal selection process. The SAB directs the Foundation's research efforts in three primary areas:
- Early diagnosis and prevention of multiple sclerosis;
- Restoring MS depleted myelin throughout the nervous system; and
- Development of new treatment protocols.
To download the RFP and instructions, 
click here. Please feel free to use or duplicate any portion of the form.
Board Members
Our Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) members are vital components of our Foundation and the work we accomplish. Members of the SAB aid the foundation in reviewing MS research trends and projects, in selecting projects for sponsorship by the Foundation, and in helping us to stay informed and educated on the advancements made in the fight against MS. All members of the SAB conduct groundbreaking research, contribute publications to outstanding professional journals, and are members of numerous professional societies and editorial boards.
DR. ADAM KAPLIN, CHAIR
Since 1999 Dr. Adam Kaplin, M.D., Ph.D., has served as the Chief Psychiatric Consultant to the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Transverse Myelitis (TM) Centers at JohnsHopkins University School of Medicine. He is an integral member of the clinical and research endeavors of these centers, with an expertise in investigating the biological basis of depression and cognitive impairment in MS, and the care of patients afflicted with these complications. Dr. Kaplin is also an Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Division of Neuropsychiatry at Johns Hopkins.
Dr. Kaplin is on the board of medical advisors to the International Transverse Myelitis Association. Dr. Kaplin’s research has focused on mechanisms of neuronal stimulation, communication and injury. He currently focuses on immune-mediated mechanisms of depression and cognitive impairment in Multiple Sclerosis and related autoimmune neurologic disorders, and the role of cytokines in these processes.
Dr. Keith L. Black
Keith L. Black, M.D. serves as Director of Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute and Director of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. An internationally renowned neurosurgeon and scientist, he is on the National Institutes of Health’s Board of Scientific Counselors for Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Dr. Black is a member of the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council of the National Institutes of Health and a founding member of the North American Skull Base Society.
Dr. Black received the Jacob Javits award from the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council of the National Institutes of Health in June of 2000 for his pioneering research on ways to open the blood-brain barrier, enabling chemotherapeutic drugs to be delivered directly into the tumor. Dr. Black’s other groundbreaking research has focused on developing different methods to fight brain tumors.
Dr. S. Allen Counter
S. Allen Counter, D.M.Sc., Ph.D., is a Neurophysiologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. In 2003, Dr. Counter was appointed Visiting Professor of Neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
As a neurophysiologist and member of the Harvard Medical School faculty, 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 central nervous system, and multiple sclerosis. Among his many scientific awards, Dr. Counter received the National Medical Association’s Hall of Fame Award in 1994.
Dr. Walter R. Frontera
Walter R. Frontera, MD, PhD, is Dean and Professor of Physical Medicine
and Rehabilitation and Physiology at the School of Medicine at the
University of Puerto Rico. He is the former Earle P. and Ida S. Charlton
Professor and Chairman of the Department of Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation (PM&R) at Harvard Medical School and Spaulding
Rehabilitation Hospital. He also served as Chief of PM&R at the
Massachusetts General Hospital and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in
Boston, MA.
His main research and clinical interests include the rehabilitation of
sports injuries and the effects of aging and exercise on skeletal muscle
function and structure. Dr. Frontera has more than 200 scientific
publications including 64 original research articles and 10 edited
books; including Volume X of the IOC Encyclopedia of Sports Medicine.
Currently, Dr. Frontera serves as the Editor-in-Chief of /The American
Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation /and is a permanent
member of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Institute
of Health’s Clinical Research Center.
Widely active in international sports medicine, he is the President of
the Pan American Confederation of Sports Medicine and the Secretary
General of the International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS).
Dr. Lauren Krupp
Dr. Krupp is currently a Professor of Neurology and Psychology at Stony Brook University Medical Center and specializes in multiple sclerosis. She is the director of the National Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center at Stony Brook, having pioneered the first Center in the United States to treat children and adolescents with MS. The Center has been designated as a Center Of Excellence by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Dr. Krupp was the first chair leader of a steering committee for the network of six centers nationwide committed to sharing advancements, better practices and collaborate so that every child with MS and their family can benefit from the collective knowledge of the entire network.
Dr. Krupp also co-directs the adult MS Center at Stony Brook and directs a research program that covers the relations between fatigue, mood disturbance, and cognitive dysfunction in MS.
Other projects include studies of children and adolescents with MS, evaluation and treatment of MS-associated cognitive problems and fatigue. She has received grant support from the National Institutes of Health, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the National Institutes of Disability and Rehabilitation Research, private foundations and pharmaceutical companies. She has published more than 100 original articles or chapters in books and is an internationally acknowledged authority in multiple sclerosis.
DR. KAREN RODMAN
Dr. Karen Rodman is an Adult Neurologist for the Indiana Center for MS and Neuroimmunopathologic Disorders. She is a member of a five-physician team that implements treatment protocols and continuity of care for various neurological disorders with a specialization in the diagnosis and treatment of multiple sclerosis. As a member of that practice, she also participates in clinical research that examines the treatment of neuroimmunological disorders such as multiple sclerosis.
Dr. Rodman is Chief Medical Officer/Chief Principal Investigator for Centurion Clinical Research, a state-of-the-art, inpatient research facility that conducts Phase 1 clinical trials. This research company provides services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, generic drug and CRO industries by establishing high standards of quality, safety and timing that meet and exceed the requirements of its customers, study participants and regulatory stakeholders.
Dr. Rodman is Board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and is a consultant for adult neurology and psychiatry patients. She has been involved with a number of research projects, and is currently Principal Investigator for a proprietary Eli Lilly project concerning centrally mediated neuropathic pain. Dr. Rodman has been published in journals that include Archives of Neurology and International Journal of MS Care.