GALVESTON, TX, May 28, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ — Marquis Who’s Who, the world’s premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Robert B. Couch, MD, with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Dr. Couch 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. Couch followed his father’s example by becoming a physician, after taking a particular interest in science while in high school. He then obtained both a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Doctor of Medicine degree at Vanderbilt University in 1952 and 1956, respectively. He subsequently completed an internship and residency at the Vanderbilt University Hospital between 1956 and 1961, where he rose to the position of chief resident physician. Eminently qualified in his field, Dr. Couch is board certified in internal medicine.
Prior to transitioning into academia, Dr. Couch spent five years with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Washington, D.C., as a clinical associate, senior investigator and head of the Clinical Virology Section. He has since served as an infectious disease consultant on behalf of the NIH including serving on the advisory council of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and as an invited lecturer to many organizations. Additionally, Dr. Couch had the good fortune to serve as the chairperson of the American Delegation for acute respiratory disease research of the U.S.-Japan Research Program.
Dr. Couch gained extensive credentials as a scholar, with which he taught virology, general microbiology, immunology, and medicine. He was named as Distinguished Service Professor, Baylor College of Medicine in 1995. He also led the infectious diseases section in the Department of Medicine, and chaired the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Baylor. Dr. Couch served as the Director of the Influenza Research Center at Baylor from 1974 to 1990, the Director of the Acute Viral Respiratory Diseases Unit from 1990 to 1995, the Respiratory Pathogens Research Unit from 1995 to 2003, the Director of the Viral Respiratory Pathogens Research Unit from 2003 to 2012, and the Center for Infection and Immunity Research from 1999 until 2012. As a seasoned scientist, Dr. Couch has conducted clinical research on respiratory diseases, acute viral respiratory disease, mechanisms of airborne respiratory disease, clinical influenza and vaccines, and more. He has contributed articles to various medical journals on many of these topics as well. Among his civic duties, Dr. Couch served as a senior surgeon with the U.S. Public Health Service between 1957 and 1966.
Dr. Couch has been an influential member of a number of prominent professional organizations. He was an associate editor of the journal and elected member of the advisory council of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. In addition, he was an editor of the Journal of Immunology published by the American Association of Immunologists. He was a notable contributor to the American Association of Physicians, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Society of Experimental Biology and Medicine, the American Society of Virology, the American Society of Microbiology and many other professional organizations.
Having accumulated more than six decades of experience as a physician, microbiologist and educator, Dr. Couch retired in 2012 as Professor Emeritus from Baylor College of Medicine. He then served as an adjunct professor of internal medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston until 2019. Attributing his success to his devotion to the field, often putting in more than 70-hour workweeks in order to serve his patients and especially contribute to the scientific research in his chosen field of infectious diseases. In 2011, Dr. Couch was recognized for his hard work with the Dr. Charles Merieux Award from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.
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