Bob

Dr. Raffa has gained a strong reputation as an outstanding scientist and R&D leader with extensive experience in drug discovery and target research and has worked with Dr. Pergolizzi for more than 20 years bringing new therapies to market. Robert has extensive academic, research, and business experience, with over 30 years of expertise in pharmacology, with over 400 articles published in peer-reviewed journals and multiple abstracts and symposia presentations. He is also associate editor of the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics and Journal of Pain Research.

“I am honored to lead the Scientific Advisory Board of Advantx Pharmaceuticals, a company that is at the forefront of developing novel therapeutics based on Sigma receptors, key targets in the human body involved in multiple pathophysiological processes, such as cellular stress, calcium homeostasis, autophagy, excitotoxicity, mitochondrial dysfunction and reactive oxygen species scavenging.” 

Dr. Raffa is Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology at Temple University School of Pharmacy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy in Tucson, Arizona. 

Dr. Raffa is also the Chief Scientific Officer of Neumentum, a leading non-opioid analgesic and neurology specialty pharmaceutical company, and co-founder of Enalare Therapeutics, a privately owned clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing novel therapies for patients suffering from acute respiratory conditions.

Prior, Dr. Raffa as a Research Fellow and Co-Leader for the analgesic discovery group at Johnson & Johnson was pivotal in elucidating the mechanism of action and development of the analgesic drug tramadol (UltramTM). The different research groups he has led approached pharmacology with a multidisciplinary vision that merged innovative chemical studies, a solid understanding of pathway biology, and deep expertise in the disease area. He is co-holder of several patents, including the combination of tramadol with acetaminophen.

Dr. Raffa has bachelor’s degrees in Chemical Engineering and in Physiological Psychology (both from the University of Delaware), master’s degrees in Biomedical Engineering (Drexel University) and Toxicology (Thomas Jefferson University), and doctorate in Pharmacology (Temple University School of Medicine).