NCRP

Kenneth R. Foster

Kenneth R. Foster

FosterKearned a BS in physics from Michigan State University (1967), an MS in physics from Indiana University (1968) and a PhD in physics from Indiana University (1971). From 1971 through 1976, he served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve, doing research on biological effects of radiofrequency (RF) energy at the Naval Medical Research Institute and later at the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (both in Bethesda, Maryland). From 1976 he has been at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is presently Professor of Bioengineering. His research relates to the interaction of electromagnetic field (EMF) with biological systems, ranging from biophysical mechanisms of interaction to medical applications to exposure assessment. He has been involved for many years with organizations involved with health effects of EMF, including a year spent at the EMF Project with the World Health Organization in Geneva, which is concerned with possible health effects of electromagnetic fields. He has had long standing membership (since 1998) on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety which sets limits for human exposure to EMF. In addition, he serves on the Physical Agents Committee of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists which sets limits for occupational exposures to EMF, and served in the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, the IEEE Committee on Man and Radiation and other organizations involved with health and safety issues related to exposure to RF energy. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering and served as President of the IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology from 1996 to 1998. He is presently a Distinguished Lecturer for that Society and gives lectures worldwide on a variety of topics, including health effects of RF energy. He has published more than 100 scientific papers in peer reviewed journals on a broad range of issues related to this topic as well as to medical applications and human exposure levels to RF energy.