LAYTONSVILLE, MD, February 17, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Jorge Ribas, DVM, with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Dr. Ribas celebrates many years' experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his 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.
Dr. Jorge L. Ribas is a medical scientist, business executive, and dynamic community activist. He is known for his no-nonsense, "can-do" approach based upon results-oriented organizational and interpersonal skills. He has accrued a long-standing record of proven success in resolving crisis situations that demand quick action and sound judgment.
Dr. Ribas was called to military service in 1972 during the Vietnam War and retired from the U.S. Army Reserves with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 2000. In the late 1970s, Dr. Ribas was fortunate to serve as a guest worker in the neurochemistry laboratory of Nobel Laureate Dr. Julius Axelrod at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. Thereafter, he spent most of his scientific and administrative career as a research pathologist specializing in brain tumors and infectious and parasitic diseases. At the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Dr. Ribas was a key team member planning and implementing congressionally mandated programs that included the biological basis of drug addiction in Vietnam Veterans, HIV infection and AIDS, and the Gulf War Syndrome. In his last active duty assignment, Dr. Ribas served as Administrator of the Gulf War Health Center and Director for Internet Technologies for the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command in Washington, DC, thus helping expedite the entry of the U.S. Army Medical Department into the Internet age.
Over the years, Dr. Ribas taught anatomy, neuroscience, and human and comparative pathology in several medical schools. He was among the first three faculty members who helped in 1976 launch the School of Medicine of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD.
Dr. Ribas has published over 50 scientific papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and written chapters for medical textbooks. He has made numerous research presentations in medical and veterinary schools and in annual meetings of scientific societies in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. His major research contributions include his discovery of the mechanism for entry of the HIV virus into human cells; presenting evidence by combined in-situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry of early and widespread viral burden in HIV-infected, asymptomatic individuals, and its ominous implications in the ultimate development of a vaccine; and, demonstrating that there was no known infectious or parasitic etiologic agent that would explain the symptomatology associated with the so-called Gulf War Syndrome.
Also, he was employed as a senior research pathologist (1984-86) in the biotechnology program at Monsanto Company in St. Louis, MO, where he helped expedite the commercialization of recombinant bovine growth hormone. More recently, he was the founder and president of Ribas & Associates, Inc., a technology company specializing in web-based systems for clinical medicine and education.
Dr. Ribas is a graduate of Southwest Baptist University (A.A.), Southwest Missouri State University (B.S.), and the University of Missouri -Columbia where he earned a doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. He pursued postdoctoral training in the neurosciences at the University of Rochester Medical School, completed residency training in comparative pathology at the University of Alabama Medical Center, and received specialized training in neuropathology and the pathology of infectious diseases at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
Over four decades, he has been appointed by several Maryland Governors and Montgomery County executives to serve in numerous state and county commissions. He has had over 40 years of executive management experience, and has played significant leadership roles in various business, healthcare and nonprofit organizations. Among them, he served as President of the Indian Spring Citizens Association (1978-1980), and President of the Montgomery County Civic Federation (1998-2000), a venerable countywide coalition of civic associations founded in 1925. He is currently a member of the Chesapeake Bay Citizens Advisory Group which work with communities and state and federal agencies throughout the Bay's watershed region to restore the health of the Bay and its tributaries. it annually reports directly to the Governors of New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, and the Mayor of the District of Columbia on the progress that have been made in restoring its health.
His most notable civic accomplishments include securing a much needed traffic light at the intersection of Colesville Road and Franklin Avenue in Silver Spring, MD, from Governor Harry Hughes (1980); organizing sesquicentennial festivities to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of Silver Spring (1992), securing $15 million from MD Governor Donald Schaeffer to plan for the revitalization of downtown Silver Spring (1992); successfully creating a coalition of PTAs, civic associations and businesses, named Citizens for a Better Blair, to build a $43-million replacement building for Blair High School in Silver Spring (1992-1997); helping establish the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce (1993); organizing a civic and congressional coalition to successfully prevent the Clinton Administration from closing down the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda (1996); securing Congressional support to force the Pentagon to release $147 million of appropriated funds to build a new facility for the Walter Reed Army Medical Research Institute in Silver Spring (1997); advocating at the congressional level to prevent closure of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; and, helping to persuade Maryland Governor Parris Glendening's administration to invest $250 million for intersection improvements in order to mitigate traffic congestion in Eastern Montgomery County (1999) to initiate construction of a much needed Intercounty connector.
Dr. Ribas community advocacy spanned nearly four decades and included leadership roles in state and county task forces and commissions; civic associations; and chambers of commerce. He was a columnist for the Montgomery Journal, a Maryland daily newspaper (1993-1998); and was a producer and host of two weekly prime-time programs serving the Washington D.C. area. In 2000, he co-founded the Mid-Atlantic Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (MAHCC.org), a multi-state business organization based in Washington, D.C., and was appointed at its first president/CEO, a position he held until the year 2020. Since 2012, Dr. Ribas has been advocating before Congress and the White House for legal resident status for the 800,000 children and youth, the so-called Dreamers, who were brought into the United States by their undocumented parents.
In addition to military and professional awards, Dr. Ribas has been recognized for exemplary service and Visionary leadership in the civic community, including Woodward & Lothrop's Washingtonian of the Year (1979); 3-time recipient of the Montgomery County Civic Federation's highest award, the Silver Cup (1980, 1994 and 2004); Southwest Baptist University Life Service Award (1983); The Journal Newspapers Trophy (1991); Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce's President's Cup (1994); the Montgomery County Community Television Volunteer of the Year Award (1995); the Montgomery County Industry and Commerce Award (2003), and MAHCC President Emeritus (2020).
Dr. Ribas, a naturalized American citizen, was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador; son of Francisco Ramon and Martha Leonor (Vera) Ribas. He married Sharon Lee Fristoe, on July 8, 1967. Children: Michael Ribas and Tamara Michele, and three grandchildren, Kay, Jun, and Josephine.
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