Mustafa al’Absi (born October 24, 1965) is a research and academic leader and an author who is a Professor of Behavioral Medicine and the holder of the Max & Mary La Due Pickworth Chair at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He is also the current Director of the Duluth Global Health Research Institute (DGHR). He was the founding director of the Duluth Medical Research Institute (DMRI), the Behavioral Medicine Laboratories,University of Minnesota Behavioral Medicine Laboratories Homepage and the Khat Research Program (KRP).The Khat Research Program (KRP) Website al’Absi is known for his pioneering research into the role of stress and trauma in predicting escalation of substance use and relapse as well as mental health comorbidity. He identified the link between deficient hormonal responses to stress and risk for smoking relapse, and that these hormonal changes explain some of the mood and cognitive challenges experienced by tobacco users when they abstain from smoking.
al’Absi has published over 250 research articles, chapters, and books, focusing on stress neurobiology and psychophysiological reactivity, psychological trauma, addiction, relapse, and comorbid depression and PTSD.
Education and early career al’Absi completed his undergraduate degree in Psychology and Biology at Cairo University, graduating with distinction and honors. He was then appointed as the first psychology academic personnel in Psychology at Sanaa University. Supported by a Fulbright Fellowship, he moved to the United States to complete his graduate studies at the University of Oklahoma. Following the completion of his internship training in Clinical Psychology, he joined the University of Minnesota as a faculty member of the Medical School and director of its Behavioral Medicine curriculum in Duluth.
Career in Minnesota After completing his graduate training and clinical internship in 1997, al’Absi joined the University of Minnesota Medical School as an Assistant Professor of Behavioral Medicine, later becoming Associate Professor in 2002 and Professor in 2006. Since 2007, he has held the title of Max & Mary La Due Pickworth Chair at the University of Minnesota Medical School. From 2007 to 2015, al’Absi was the Founding Director of the Duluth Medical Research Institute. He has also served as Director of the Behavioral Medicine Laboratories at the University and the Stress and Resilience Research Labs.
Nationally, al’Absi held the presidency of the Society for Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine (SBSM), previously the American Psychosomatic Society, in 2015–2016, and served on the board of directors for the Society for Psychophysiological Research (SPR) and the Academy for Behavioral Medicine Research (ABMR). al’Absi is a fellow of the Academy for Behavioral Medicine Research (ABMR), the Society for Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine, the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, and the Association for Psychological Science.
al’Absi co-led multiple IBRO schools and conferences in Africa focusing on addiction and mental health comorbidity in Rabat, Morocco (2013); Jimma, Ethiopia (2014); Gaborone, Botswana (2015); Monastir, Tunisia (2016); Cape Town, South Africa (2018); Hammamet, Tunisia (2018); and Kampala, Uganda. He also led or co-organized conferences and workshops in collaboration with the Africa and Middle East Congress on Addiction (AMECA), the Society of Neuroscientists of Africa (SONA), University of Monastir, Stellenbosch University, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Haramaya University, University of Botswana, University of Nairobi, and Technical University of Mombasa.
Research al’Absi's research program, spanning over 30 years, focuses on the psychobiological mechanisms linking stress, early life adversity, and trauma to addiction, appetite regulation, pain perception, and cardiovascular health, employing integrated laboratory, clinical, and naturalistic methodologies to translate findings into targeted interventions.al’Absi, M. (2018). Stress and Addiction: When a Robust Stress Response Indicates Resiliency. Psychosomatic Medicine, 80(1), 2–16. doi:10.1097/PSY.0000000000000520al'Absi M, Ginty AT, Lovallo WR (2021). Neurobiological mechanisms of early life adversity, blunted stress reactivity and risk for addiction. Neuropharmacology, 188:108519.al'Absi M. (2020). The influence of stress and early life adversity on addiction: Psychobiological mechanisms of risk and resilience. International Review of Neurobiology, 152:71–100. His research focuses on the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, the endogenous opioid system, the sympathoadrenal system, and the endocannabinoid system.al'Absi M, Nakajima M, DeAngelis B, Grant J, King A, Grabowski J, Hatsukami D, Allen S (2021). Blunted opioid regulation of the HPA stress response during nicotine withdrawal: therapeutic implications. Stress, 24:529–540.al’Absi, M., Wittmers, L.E., Hatsukami, D., Westra, R. (2008). Blunted opiate modulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical activity in smoking men and women. Psychosomatic Medicine, 70:928–935.al’Absi, M., and Bongard, S. (2006). Neuroendocrine and behavioral mechanisms mediating the relationship between anger expression and cardiovascular risk: assessment considerations and improvements. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 29:573–591.al’Absi, M., Devereux, R.B., Lewis, C., Kitzman, D., Rao, D.C., Hopkins, P., Markovitz, J., and Arnett, D. (2002). Relation of cardiovascular stress reactivity to left ventricular mass and relative wall thickness in hypertensives: effects of race and gender. American Journal of Cardiology, 89:536–540.al’Absi, M., Amunrud, T., and Wittmers, L.E. (2002). Psychophysiological effects of nicotine abstinence and behavioral challenges in habitual smokers. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior, 72:707–716.Nakajima, M., al'Absi, M., Kumar, S., Wittmers, L., Scott, M. (2013). Psychophysiological responses to stress following alcohol intake in hazardous drinkers. Biological Psychology, 93:9–16.Allen AM, al'Absi M, Lando H, Allen SS (2015). Allopregnanolone association with psychophysiological and cognitive functions during acute smoking abstinence in premenopausal women. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 23(1):22–28. The research has demonstrated that dysregulated hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenocortical (HPA) responses, characterized by basal hypercortisolism and blunted acute reactivity, predict early relapse in nicotine and stimulant addiction,al'Absi, M., Lemieux, A., Hodges, J.S., & Allen, S. (2019). Circulating orexin changes during withdrawal are associated with nicotine craving and risk for smoking relapse. Addiction Biology, 24(4):743–753.al'Absi M, Lemieux A, Westra R, Allen S. (2017). Early life adversity influences stress response association with smoking relapse. Psychopharmacology (Berl), 234(22):3375–3384.al'Absi M, Nakajima M, Allen S, Lemieux A, Hatsukami D. (2015). Sex differences in hormonal responses to stress and smoking relapse: a prospective examination. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 17(4):382–389.Nakajima, M., al’Absi, M. (2012). Predictors of risk for smoking relapse in men and women: a prospective examination. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 26:633–637.Shaw, D., and al’Absi, M. (2008). Attenuated beta-endorphin response to acute stress is associated with smoking relapse. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior, 90:357–362.al’Absi, M., Carr, S., Bongard, S. (2007). Anger and psychobiological changes during smoking abstinence and in response to acute stress: prediction of smoking relapse. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 66:109–115.Ceballos, N., and al’Absi, M. (2006). Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, cortisol, mood state, and smoking cessation: relationship to relapse status at 4-week follow-up. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior, 85:23–28.al’Absi, M. (2006). Altered psychoendocrine responses to psychological stress and smoking relapse. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 59:218–227.al’Absi, M., Hatsukami, D., and Davis, G. (2005). Attenuated adrenocorticotropic responses to stress predict early relapse. Psychopharmacology, 181:107–117.al’Absi, M., Hatsukami, D., Davis, G.L., and Wittmers, L. (2004). Prospective examination of effects of smoking abstinence on cortisol and withdrawal symptoms as predictors of early smoking relapse. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 73:267–278. while stress-induced changes in appetite hormones (e.g., elevated ghrelin, blunted PYY) drive post-cessation weight gain and craving, particularly in women and trauma-exposed individuals.al'Absi M, DeAngelis B, Nakajima M, Hatsukami D, Allen S (2021). Early life adversity and appetite hormones: The effects of smoking status, nicotine withdrawal, and relapse on ghrelin and peptide YY during smoking cessation. Addictive Behaviors, 118:106866.Lemieux, A.M., & al'Absi, M. (2018). Changes in circulating peptide YY and ghrelin are associated with early smoking relapse. Biological Psychology, 131:43–48.Potretzke, S., Lemieux, A., Nakajima, M., and al'Absi, M. (2022). Circulating ghrelin changes as a biomarker of the stress response and craving in abstinent smokers. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior, 218:173423.al'Absi M, Lemieux A, Nakajima M. (2014). Peptide YY and ghrelin predict craving and risk for relapse in abstinent smokers. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 49C:253–259.Lemieux A, Nakajima M, Hatsukami DK, Allen S, al'Absi M. (2015). Changes in circulating leptin levels during the initial stage of cessation are associated with smoking relapse. Psychopharmacology (Berl), 232(18):3355–3361.Potretzke S, Nakajima M, Cragin T, al'Absi M. (2014). Changes in circulating leptin levels during acute stress and associations with craving in abstinent smokers: a preliminary investigation. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 47:232–240. al'Absi’s early work established stress-induced hypoalgesia and exaggerated cardiovascular responses as endophenotypes for hypertension.al’Absi, M., France, C.R., France, J., Harju, A., Ring, C., McIntyre, D., and Wittmers, L.E. (2005). Effects of baroreflex stimulation on pain perception and nociceptive flexion reflex in men and women. Psychophysiology, 42:83–91.al’Absi, M., and Petersen, K.L. (2003). Blood pressure but not cortisol mediates stress effects on subsequent pain perception in healthy men and women. Pain, 106:285–295.al’Absi, M., Petersen, K., and Wittmers, L. (2002). Adrenocortical and hemodynamic predictors of pain perception in men and women. Pain, 92:197–205.al’Absi, M., Petersen, K., and Wittmers, L. (2000). Blood pressure and not parental history for hypertension predicts pain perception in women. Pain, 88:61–68.al’Absi, M., Buchanan, T., and Lovallo, W.R. (1996). Pain and cardiovascular responses to cold pressor in persons with positive parental history for hypertension. Psychophysiology, 33:655–661.