Dr. Fassihi is a professor of biopharmaceutics and industrial pharmacy at Temple University, School of Pharmacy, where he has taught and done research in the pharmaceutical sciences since 1992. He has worked as an assistant professor at Isfahan University (1979-1982), a postdoctoral fellow at Brighton University (1983), a Senior Scientist at Welsh School of Pharmacy (1984), Senior Lecturer at Rhodes University in South Africa (1984-1988). He was Founder and Head of School of Pharmacy, and Professor and Chair of Department, at University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa (1988-1992), where he was awarded with gold medals by both the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Society of Cosmetic Chemists. In 1991 he was a visiting professor at Cincinnati University undertaking research in advanced biopharmaceutics with Professor Wolfgang A. Ritschel and in 1992 he joined Temple University, School of Pharmacy, where he has served as professor, director of graduate programs, chair of various university committees and professional organizations. He has been an invited speaker at various professional meetings, FDA and pharmaceutical conventions and has presented seminars and workshops nationally and internationally and is a member of numerous societies. Dr. Fassihi has authored or coauthored more than 135 peer-reviewed professional papers on topics related to the relationship between the physicochemical characteristics of drugs (polymorphism, amorphous systems, crystal structure, solubility, permeability) and their biological effect, with an emphasis on design, development, evaluation (in-vitro and in-vivo), optimization and scale-up operations of oral dosage forms, capsules, tablets, enteric coated systems, controlled release drug delivery, dispersed systems, oral-soluble films, orally disintegrating tablets and dermatologicals. His research also has focused on an in-depth analysis and understanding of colloidal systems, gels, solid state pharmaceutics, preformulation, excipient characterization, particulate systems, polymers, surfactants, solubilizers and application of biopharmaceutics in design of novel and advanced drug delivery systems and drug product performance. 

His research interests include structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies involving molecules that modulate pharmacologically important protein targets. Examples include novel ligands for cholinergic (muscarinic and nicotinic), serotonin, and Sigma receptor subtypes. The lactone scaffold shown below was used in the design of these ligands. In the recent past, we have also designed ligands for retinoic acid receptor (RAR) subtypes. The development of efficient and versatile synthetic routes to pharmacologically useful building blocks is another interest of the group (see below). Dr. Canney continues to collaborate with scientists in the pharmaceutical industry and in academia in order to further our understanding of the relationship between ligand structure and biological activity.