Dr. al’Absi is a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Biobehavioral Health, the holder of the Max & Mary La Due Pickworth Endowed Chair at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He also serves as an adjunct professor in Psychiatry and in Epidemiology, and as a graduate faculty member in the Departments of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, and Integrated Biological Sciences. Dr. al’Absi directs the Behavioral Medicine Laboratories at two sites of the Medical School (Duluth and Minneapolis); and he is the current Director of the Duluth Global Health Research Institute (DGHRI).  Dr. al’Absi has been leading a research program integrating basic, laboratory, and clinical methods to elucidate mechanisms by which stress plays a role in addiction and mental health comorbidity. He has published more than 200 scientific articles and two books. Multiple NIH grants, National Science Foundation, and the American Heart Association have supported his research.

Dr. al’Absi has served in several national an international leadership positions, including serving as president of the American Psychosomatic Society (APS), chair of the Africa and Middle East Congress on Addiction (AMECA), and being a board member of many scientific and professional organizations worldwide. He has been honored with the Neal E. Miller Award, the Herbert Weiner Award, and the NIDA Award of Excellence in Collaborative Research. He is currently a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Sciences and the Academy for Behavioral Medicine. He has served as a guest editor for Biological Psychology and Psychosomatic Medicine; and he has served as associate editor for Psychophysiology and Biological Psychology.