Professor Robert B. Raffa

Professor Robert B. Raffa

Professor Emeritus, Temple University, Tucson, AZ, USA

Dr. Raffa’s career has been devoted to basic science pharmacologic contributions directed to mechanistic understanding the therapeutic utility and adverse effects of analgesic drugs through research, drug discovery, teaching, and publication. He earned undergraduate degrees in Chemical Engineering and Physiological Psychology (both from University of Delaware), graduate degrees in Biomedical Engineering (Drexel University, Philadelphia) and Toxicology (Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia), and a doctorate in Pharmacology (Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia). He was Team Co-Leader for CNS analgesics drug discovery at Johnson & Johnson (McNeil Pharmaceutical, Janssen Research Foundation, Pharmaceutical Research Institute), and is co-holder of nine patents on analgesic drugs. During his 10-year career at Johnson & Johnson, he attained the title of Research Fellow.

Dr. Raffa recently retired as Professor Emeritus after 20 years as tenured faculty at Temple University School of Pharmacy. He taught drug-receptor theory and drug-abuse in addition to multiple other topics as Course Director or Lecturer in the two-semester pharmacology sequence. He also taught an elective course in writing and publishing a review article in peer-reviewed scientific journals. In all, more than 200 students authored more than 30 publications. He received more than $3 million in research funding from the NIH (National Institutes of Health) and other sources for investigation of drug action and drug abuse issues. He is currently Adjunct Professor at the University of Arizona in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology.

Dr. Raffa has published over 300 papers in refereed journals, is the co-author or editor of several books on pharmacology and thermodynamics. He is a Co-Editor of the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics. He is a past president of the Mid-Atlantic Pharmacology Society, and he lectures and consults worldwide on analgesics and analgesic combinations.

Updated 4 March 2024