HILTON HEAD, SC, May 04, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Charlene Boothe Riikonen with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Ms. Riikonen celebrates many years' experience in her professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes she has accrued in her field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
An international health administrator and founder and CEO of Cera Products, Inc., Ms. Riikonen established her business in 1993, creating her hydration drink line in Maryland with support from the State of Maryland through a Challenge Grant. Physicians from The Johns Hopkins University Medical Center undertook clinical studies using CeraLyte® to hydrate over 160 children with cholera at the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research (ICDDRB) and published this study in the Centre's scientific journal, showing that CeraLyte was more efficient in reducing the devastating symptoms of cholera than the standard WHO Oral hydration product. During the early years of the company, Esko Riikonen, previously technical director of Larox OY and CEO of RF Technologies, Inc., oversaw the financial operations while Ms. Riikonen did product development, marketing and sales, and business development. The Company operated for over 20 years in Maryland, but moved its headquarters to Hilton Head Island in late 2010 when Mr. Riikonen retired. The company has maintained its production offices and warehousing operations in Maryland, and opened offices in Columbus, GA in 2016. Jennifer Gurrola, current President of Cera Products, joined the company in 2008 to build sales. Ms. Gurrola has a health science degree and extensive experience in health care companies. She has grown the company sales significantly within the military and US Government. She has been President since 2017 and oversees all day-to-day operations, marketing and sales, and general administration, while Ms. Riikonen remains Founder/CEO. The company has international customers and exports to Canada, Central America, South Africa and Saudi Arabia.
Today, the mission of Cera Products, Inc., remains saving lives, reducing healthcare costs and improving the lives of those who suffer dehydration by providing cost-effective and easily-administered oral hydration solutions. As a scientific leader in oral rehydration products, the Company continues to improve its products, creating new products in its line of hydration and health, and delivering these products to those who are in need or who will benefit using them, such as the US military. Now offering more than 17 different products in both liquid and powder, each is designed to address specific hydration or rehydration needs. This range is from mild to moderate to severe dehydration and vomiting for patients with urgent or with chronic conditions, including cholera or short gut or Crohn's disease or cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiation. One of the Company's product lines in CeraSport, for preventing and correcting dehydration during exercise or competition or training. All the Company's products are gluten-free and use natural flavors and colors and, since rice is the carbohydrate used in its Oral Rehydration Solutions (ORS), its products are not causing allergic reactions.
The Company has been awarded numerous government contracts, through the Department of Defense, the Federal Supply Service, the Veterans Administration, and has been widely used throughout all branches of the U.S. military. CeraLyte is in all US Air Force medical kits, and CeraLyte is a preferred hydration product used by Special Forces of the US military and also the Canadian military.
Prior to forming her company, Ms. Riikonen was one of the founders of the Child Health Foundation, and served as its Executive Director for over 12 years. This charity has a mission to provide low cost ways to save child lives, and its founding included those who also worked at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (ICDDRB) along with Ms. Riikonen, who was there in Bangladesh for three years as a senior development officer, helping to raise funds for the ICDDRB research projects. Its hospital provides care for thousands of Bangladeshi citizens each year and its work has served as the basis for finding the causes and cures for many of the diarrheal diseases, and for modern IV formulation. Prior to her work at the ICDDRB, Ms. Riikonen served as both an assistant and an associate director of University Relations and Development at the University of Maryland. Her work prior to that included corporate positions.
Ms. Riikonen organized an international symposium on oral rehydration therapy along with the National Council for International Health (NCIH) which is now the Global Health Council. Participating sponsors included the Aga Khan University in Pakistan, site of the conference, the USAID, WHO, and several corporations. The purpose was to create a consensus on improving glucose ORS, using cereal substrates, and Ms. Riikonen assembled and edited the manuscript which was published in 1990 by the ICDDRB Journal of Diarrhoeal Diseases. Ms. Riikonen also is the author of a training manual, Prevention and Treatment of Childhood Diarrhea with Oral Rehydration Therapy, Nutrition, and Breastfeeding, published in 1992, was the author of proceedings for the Oral Rehydration Therapy Symposia during 1987, 1989, 1993, and 1994, and was the longtime editor of "Child Health News", and has written or contributed to numerous articles on oral hydration in various publications.
A longstanding member of the American Public Health Association, on its international maternal-child health committee, Mrs. Riikonen is an emeritus member of the Child Health Foundation, a member and former board member of the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Alumni Association for the University of Maryland, the American Association of University Women, the National Council of International Health, the Woman's International Public Health Network. Shye has also been active with various local organizations, in Columbia, Maryland and, most recently, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. Ms. Riikonen was inducted as a Deacon, First Presbyterian Church, Hilton Head Island, SC, where she serves on the Lay Visitation Committee, serving as a chairman for one of its committees which is a service group for those in need.
Ms. Riikonen holds an Associate of Arts degree, with high honors, from Howard Community College, Columbia, Maryland, and a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from the University of Maryland. Marrying her husband, Esko Riikonen, in 1989, who passed away in 2012, she has three children and nine grandchildren, three step children, and five step grandchildren. In her free time, Ms. Riikonen, now does extensive reading and is an active member of the Hilton Head Island Duplicate Bridge Club, the Palmetto Hall Woman's Association, and the Woman's Association of Hilton Head.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to her profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, Charlene Boothe Riikonen has been featured on the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement website. Please visit www.lachiefiers.com for more information about this honor.
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