Sussan Ghassabian profile

I was graduated from the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in 1994 as a pharmacist. My PharmD thesis was published in “International Journal of Pharmaceutics” in 1996. It also got two national prizes in two conferences in 1994. Then, I was working in the Pharmacy No.1 of the Shahid Beheshti University for less than 3 years. In this period, I prepared a draft for a book to guide pharmacist preparing compounding products. This book was published two years later. Then, I worked in the biotechnology department of “Iranian Research Organization for Science & Technology” for two years. It was about preparation of the amino acid L-Lysine by fermentation. Then, I moved to R&D departments of 2 pharmaceutical companies (Iran Daru and Cosar) as a formulator. I formulated more than 50 different formulations from variety of dosage forms during 5 years.

In 2004, I met Mr Naraghi and he advised me to apply for studying PhD in Australia. I started the process with no hope for the success. The expenses were so high that I could not afford them. We found a Lecturer who was interested to offer me a project in pharmacokinetic area. We prepared a proposal and sent it to the university accompanied with other documents. Simultaneously, we applied for the EIPRS scholarship which is only for international students. We received the university acceptance and applied for the student visa. After two months, I received my visa and resigned from my job. When I arrived in Sydney, I went to the International office to check about the scholarship. They offered the funding to 30 out of 400 applicants and surprisingly, I was there. Later, I found that they criteria were the research background, publications and academic merit. It was a great achievement and it helped me to focus on my study without major financial problems.

During the 3 years and half of the PhD project, I learned about research methodology, working independently, oral and written presentation of my results and communication methods. It was a great honor for me to work with Prof A. McLachlan and Prof M. Murray. Their advice and supervision was a real role model for me. I also, amazed by Australian culture and how people from all over the world live together in peace. I met my husband here and we got married in 2007. He always supported me in difficult moments of living far from the family. I also found lot of friends and did not feel lonely any longer.

I was graduated officially on 4^th February 2009, and attended the graduation ceremony of Faculty of Pharmacy in March 2009. It was a ceremony that I dreamed about. At that moment, I found that how graceful I was to listen to my heart and follow my dream.

Now, I am working in a Research Contract Company in Sydney. I have great colleagues and I enjoyed my job. My experience in different research areas and also my PhD project in the University of Sydney make me prepared for this job and I think I will stay in the area of research for the rest of my career life.

Some of my publications are listed here:

1-Ghassabian, S., Chetty, M., Tattam, B.N., Glen, J., Rahme, J., Stankovic, Z., Ramzan, I., Murray, M., McLachlan, M., “A high-throughput assay using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry for simultaneous in vivo phenotyping of five major cytochrome P450 enzymes in patients”, Ther Drug Monit, 31 (2009); pp239-246.

2-Ghassabian, S., Glen, J., Chetty, M., Murray, M. and McLachlan, A., “Impact of co-administration of valproate on the adverse effects of clozapine.”, Annual conference of the Australian Pharmaceutical Science Association (APSA), , Sydney, Australia, Dec. 8-11, 2007 (Oral presentation).

3-Ghassabian, S., Tattam, B.N., Ramzan, I., Murray, M and Chetty, M., “A simplified liquid chromatography – tandem mass spectrometry for the simultaneous assessment of cytochrome P450 1A2, 3A4, 2C9, 2C19 and 2D6 activities with a new cocktail.”, AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition, San Diego, CA, USA, Nov. 11-15, 2007 (Poster presentation).

4- Ghassabian, S., Tattam, B.N., Ramzan, I., Murray, M and Chetty, M., “ A simplified liquid chromatography/ tandem mass spectrometry assay for the simultaneous assessment of cytochrome P450 1A2, 3A4, 2C9, 2C19 and 2D6 activities with a new cocktail.” Annual Conference of the Australian Pharmaceutical Science Association (APSA), Adelaide, Australia, Dec. 3-5, 2006 (Poster presentation).

5- Ghassabian, S., Murray, M., Glen, J., Chetty, M., “The impact of valproate on plasma concentrations of clozapine and its metabolite in patients with schizophrenia”. Joint Meeting of ASCEPT and APSA, Melbourne, Australia, Dec. 4-7, 2005 (Poster presentation).

6- Ghassabian, S.," Albumin microspheres as a drug delivery system”, 1st National Conference on Novel Drug Delivery Systems, Tehran, Iran, 26-27 Feb. 2003 (Poster presentation).

7- Abiri, M., Ghassabian, S., “Optimization of Cream Formulation by Statistical Simplex Method”, The 7^th International Seminar on Hygienic & Cosmetic Industries, Tehran, Iran, Oct. 16-18 2001.

8- Derakhshandeh, K., Afazeli, S., and Ghassabian, S., “Determination of Vitamins E and D in V-M Protein Powder by HPLC”, 1st Seminar of Methodology in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran, Aug. 2001 (Oral presentation).

9- Afazeli, S., Ghassabian, S., Zarghi A., “ Optimal Emulsifier Systems in Formulation of Benzoyl peroxide Lotion”, The 6th International Seminar on Hygienic & Cosmetic Industries, Tehran, Iran, Oct. 17-19, 2000.

10- Ghassabian, S., Afazeli, S., “Isolation and Spectroscopically Identification of 3-β-Sitosterone from Pygeum africanum Extract”, International Congress on Traditional Medicine & Materia Media, Tehran, Iran, Nov. 2000 (Oral presentation).

11- Ghassabian, S., Azin, M., “Laboratory Scale Production of L-Lysine”, 8^th Iranian Biology Conference, Kermanshah, Iran, 31st Aug- 2nd Sep. 1999.

12- Karbasi, S.M., Ghassabian, S., and Azin, M., “The Research project: L-Lysine production”, Bulletin of Biotechnology Commission, National Research Council of Iran, 2(1), 1999, pp 19-24.

13- Ghassabian, S., “Guide to Compounding Preparation for Pharmacists”, 1998, Roozbehan Publishing Agent, Tehran, Iran.

14- Ghassabian, S., Ehtezazi, T., Forutan, S.M. and Mortazavi, S.M., “Dexamethasone - loaded magnetic albumin microspheres: preparation and in vitro release”, Int. J. Pharm., 130 (1996), pp 49-55.