Jump to
Dr. Mustafa al’Absi is a Professor of Behavioral Medicine. He also serves as an adjunct professor in Psychiatry and Epidemiology, as well as a graduate faculty member in Neuroscience, Integrated Biological Sciences, and Cognitive Science. He directs the Behavioral Medicine Laboratories (BML) at the Medical School's Duluth and Minneapolis campuses and serves as the Director of the Duluth Global Health Research Institute (DGHRI). Dr. al’Absi completed his undergraduate studies at Cairo University and earned his doctorate at the University of Oklahoma in biological and clinical psychology, specializing in behavioral medicine and psychophysiology. He founded the Behavioral Medicine Laboratories in 1998 to investigate the biobehavioral mechanisms linking stress, trauma, and early adversity to addiction, mental health conditions, and appetite regulation, aiming to develop tailored interventions. His research integrates laboratory, clinical, and real-world methods, resulting in over 200 scientific publications, two books, and numerous book chapters.
PhD, Major: Behavioral Medicine/Psychophysiology
Keogh TM, Howard S, Nakajima M, al'Absi M. Patterns of adaptation to stress cardiovascular responses in smokers during ad libitum smoking and withdrawal. Psychophysiology. 2025 Jan;62(1):e14719. doi: 10.1111/psyp.14719.
Hodges JS, DeAngelis BN, Borodovsky J, Budney A, al'Absi M. Impact of Early-Life Adversity on Cannabis Use: Exploring the Mediating and Moderating Effects of Chronic Pain. Cannabis Cannabinoid Res. 2024 Mar 18. doi: 10.1089/can.2023.0218.
Potretzke S, Lemieux A, Nakajima M, al'Absi M. Circulating ghrelin changes as a biomarker of the stress response and craving in abstinent smokers. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2022 Jul;218:173423. doi: 10.1016/j.pbb.2022.173423. Epub 2022 Jun 21. PubMed PMID: 35750154; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10314732.
Bruehl S, Morris MC, al'Absi M. Stress-induced analgesia: an evaluation of effects on temporal summation of pain and the role of endogenous opioid mechanisms. Pain Rep. 2022 Mar-Apr;7(2):e987. doi: 10.1097/PR9.0000000000000987. eCollection 2022 Mar-Apr. PubMed PMID: 35155968; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8826964.
Anker JJ, Nakajima M, Raatz S, Allen S, al'Absi M. Tobacco withdrawal increases junk food intake: The role of the endogenous opioid system. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2021 Aug 1;225:108819. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108819. Epub 2021 Jun 18. PubMed PMID: 34182373; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8297656.
al'Absi M, Ginty AT, Lovallo WR. Neurobiological mechanisms of early life adversity, blunted stress reactivity and risk for addiction. Neuropharmacology. 2021 May 1;188:108519. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2021.108519. Epub 2021 Mar 10. Review. PubMed PMID: 33711348; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9195251.
Dr. al’Absi has established an international research program focusing on the biological and psychophysiological effects of stress on addictive behaviors and mental health conditions. His team works to elucidate the biobehavioral mechanisms by which stress and early life adversity contribute to addiction and mental health disorders, using this knowledge to develop tailored interventions. His research integrates basic, laboratory, and clinical methods. Early on, Dr. al’Absi focused on stress mechanisms related to heart disease risk, conducting pioneering lab and field studies with natural stressors and pharmacological challenges. Funded by NHLBI and AHA, he defined mechanisms of hypoalgesia and stress response alterations in hypertension. He later focused on stress response alterations in clinical conditions, particularly addiction. His key finding, replicated in his program, is the blunted hormonal stress response in stimulant addiction, which predicts early relapse. Dr. al’Absi’s current research explores the role of endogenous opioids and the endocannabinoid system in modulating stress responses and examines how these responses predict changes in dietary intake, weight, and relapse, aiming to inform targeted treatments for smoking cessation. He has also led efforts to improve stress and substance use assessment by developing high-tech, unobtrusive methods using wearable sensors for real-time, continuous data collection in natural settings, enabling just-in-time interventions.
Dr. al’Absi’s research has been funded by multiple R01 grants from NIDA and NCI, AHA grant-in-aid, and grants from the University of Minnesota and IBRO, as well as a Smart Health and Wellbeing award from NSF. He has received numerous honors, including the ABMR Neal E. Miller Award, the American Psychosomatic Society Herbert Weiner Award, the NIDA Award of Excellence in Collaborative Research, and the Hans Selye Lectureship from WASAD. He is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Sciences, the Academy for Behavioral Medicine, and the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT), and a former fellow of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Mind-Body Network. Dr. al’Absi has authored over 220 scientific articles, two books, and many book chapters. He has served as a guest editor for Biological Psychology; Psychosomatic Medicine; and Journal of Neural Transmission, He has served as an associate editor for Psychophysiology. He is currently on the editorial boards of Health Psychology, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, Journal of Neural Transmission, and others. He has served on multiple NIH, VA, and NSF review panels, including the “Mechanisms of Emotion, Stress, and Health” Study Section. Dr. al’Absi has held leadership roles, including president of the American Psychosomatic Society (APS), executive council member and chair of the membership committee at the Academy for Behavioral Medicine Research (ABMR), president of the Africa & Middle East Congress on Addiction (AMECA), and board member of the Society for Psychophysiological Research (SPR). He also serves on the UNODC-WHO Informal Scientific Network (ISN). In addition to his research and leadership, Dr. al’Absi is committed to training the next generation of physicians and scientists, mentoring medical, graduate, and undergraduate students, as well as postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty members at the University of Minnesota and other institutions.
Stress & trauma; addiction; pain
License: Minnesota
Ongoing grants:
R01 DA016351: Endogenous Opioid Dysfunction, Stress, and Risk for Smoking Relapse
R01 DA027232-08: Effect of sex differences and concurrent cannabis use on stress-related psychobiological mechanisms associated with smoking cessation and relapse
R01 DA050334-01: Stress and Opioid Misuse Risk: The Role of Endogenous Opioid and Endocannabinoid Mechanisms
*Vice-president, World Association for Stress-Related and Anxiety Disorders (WASAD)
*President, American Psychosomatic Society (APS)
*President-elect, American Psychosomatic Society (APS)
*Special Emphasis Panel, National Cancer Institute
*Secretary/Treasurer, American Psychosomatic Society
*Special Emphasis Panel on Digestive Sciences
*Fellow, Association for Psychological Sciences
*Study Section member, ZRG1 MESH, National Institutes of Health
*Council Member, American Psychosomatic Society
*Associate Editor, Psychophysiology
*Merit Review Committee, Neurobiology, Veteran Affairs Administration
*Special Emphasis Panel, National Institutes of Health
*Special Emphasis Panel, National Institute of Mental Health
*Associate Editor, Biological Psychology
*Special Emphasis Panel, National Institute on Drug Abuse
*Program Committee, Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco
*Program Committee, American Psychosomatic Society
*Member, American Psychosomatic Society, Association for Psychological Sciences,
Society for Psychophysiological Research, and Society for Research on Nicotine and
Tobacco
*Member, Masonic Cancer Center
*Chair, P & T Committee, Department of Family Medicine & Biobehavioral Health
*Chair, Scholastic Standing Committee Medical School Duluth
*Leader, SIG on Stress & Resilience (Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation & The Life Course Center)
Stress & trauma; addiction; global mental health