Ali Habashi
PharmD, PhD
Associate Professor
BMS
Office: 257 • Leonard Hall • Pocatello Campus
Pharmaceutical Sciences • Pharmacokinetics
I am interested in exploring the concept of drug-disease interaction, and studying the effect of inflammation, in particular, on the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) at enzyme, peptide, and receptor levels in order to fully understand the underlying mechanisms. In different inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, diabetes, mental disorders, and Alzheimer disease, patient’s quality of life has been be affected by the deleterious impact of inflammation. Due to extensive involvement of the RAS in the systemic and local regulatory function of different organs and the significant impact of inflammation on the activation of the RAS, the association of the RAS in different pathological conditions has been reported. The RAS consists of two counteracting arms: tissue protective and tissue toxic. Manipulation of the RAS through augmentation of its tissue protective arm by delivering of its peptide homologs seems promising. Peptides have gained increased interest as biological therapeutics during recent years. However, the clinical application of these agents is still limited due to drug delivery challenges. As a pharmaceutical formulation scientist, I have set focuses of my lab on exploring innovative targeted drug delivery systems for effective, safe, and noninvasive delivery of these therapeutic agents for aiming at several serious inflammatory conditions that RAS involved in their pathology.
My interests include: Basic Pharmacokinetics and Pharmaceutical calculations, Pharmacotherapy, Current Topics in Pharmaceutics and Drug delivery, Principles of Biopharmaceutical Analysis, Responsible Conduct in Research, Physiochemical Basis of Drug Action, Critical Literature Evaluation
Select Papers
Biwash Ghimire, Pradeep Giri, Susan Tavernier, Sarah E. Hobdey and Ali Aghazadeh-Habashi*, Exploratory Analysis of Plasma Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2andAngiotensin Peptides as Candidate Discriminatory Signals in Breast Cancer: A Pilot Case–Control Study, Biomedicines 2026, 14, 1086, https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines14051086
Biwash Ghimire, Pradeep Giri, Sameena Mateen, Srinath Pashikanti, Ali Aghazadeh-Habashi*, Comparative Bioavailability Study of Jaspine B: Impact of Nano-Liposomal Drug Delivery System on Pharmacokinetics, Pharmaceutics 2025, 17(7), 807; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics17070807
Ghimire, B., Khajehpour, S., Middleton, E., Campbell, R.A., Nies, M., & Aghazadeh-Habashi*, A. Renin-Angiotensin System Components and Arachidonic Acid Metabolites as Biomarkers of COVID-19. Biomedicines 2023, 11(8), 2118; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11082118
Sana Khajeh Pour, Arina Ranjit, Emma, L. Summerill, Ali Aghazadeh-Habashi, Anti-inflammatory Effects of Ang-(1-7) Bone-Targeting Conjugate in an Adjuvant-induced Arthritis Rat Model, Pharmaceuticals 2022, 15(9), 1157; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph15091157
Sana Khajeh Pour, Sameena Mateen, Srinath Pashikanti, Jared J. Barrott, and Ali Aghazadeh-Habashi, Formulation, Characterization, and In vitro/In vivo Efficacy Studies of a Novel Liposomal Drug Delivery System of Amphiphilic Jaspine B for Treatment of Synovial Sarcoma. Mar. Drugs 2022, 20(8), 509; https://doi.org/10.3390/md20080509 - 10 Aug 2022
Khajeh Pour, S., Scoville, C., Tavernier, S.S., Ali Aghazadeh-Habashi. Plasma angiotensin peptides as biomarkers of rheumatoid arthritis are correlated with anti-ACE2 auto-antibody levels and disease intensity. Inflammopharmacol 30, 1295–1302 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10787-022-01008-9
Pavek, A., Nartker, C., Saleh, M., Kirkham, M., Khajeh Pour, S., Aghazadeh-Habashi, A., Barrott, J. J., 2021. Tissue Engineering Through 3D Bioprinting to Recreate and Study Bone Disease. Biomedicines 9, 551. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines9050551
Past Trainee's
Sana Khajeh Pour, Senior Clinical Pharmacologist, AbbVie, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, North Chicago, Illinois
Arina Ranjit, Bioanalytical Scientist, Tract BioBiotechnology Research, Charlotte, North Carolina
Biwash Ghimire, Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Dr. Kevin P. Campbell Lab, Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
Active Grants and/or Previous Grants
R16GM154736, SuRE-First NIH (8/05/2025 - 6/30/2029, $716,607), Modulation of Breast Cancer Metastasis Using Bone-Targeted Delivery of a Small Anti-Cancer Peptide, PI
Midwestern University’s Faculty Seed Grant Program for Prioritized Extramural Grant Pilot Projects (07/01/2025-06/30/2027, $20,000), Reinventing Ang-(1-7): A Long-Lasting Bisphosphonate-Conjugated Analog for Targeted Aortic Aneurysm Intervention, Co-PI
Hiring Graduate Students/ Post-Docs/ Lab Assistants
Yes