Before joining the College of Medicine at Drexel University, Dr. Altarifi served as a faculty member at Jordan University of Science and Technology. His research interests involved understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of pain and drug reinforcement using rigorous preclinical models with strong translational relevance. He has extensive experience designing and conducting operant and behavioral pharmacology experiments to study pain, analgesia, and drugs of abuse, with a particular emphasis on opioids and NSAIDs. His research aimed to improve the predictive validity of preclinical pain models by integrating behavioral endpoints, motivational measures, and clinically relevant dosing paradigms, thereby enhancing the translatability of experimental findings to human pain conditions.

A specific and growing focus of Dr. Altarifi’s research is dental and orofacial pain, an area uniquely aligned with his dental background and training in neuroscience and pharmacology. By bridging dentistry, pain neuroscience, and addiction research, his long-term goal is to advance translational research that informs safer and more effective treatments for dental and non-dental pain, especially in patient populations at risk for opioid misuse.

“Hyperbaric oxygen therapy ameliorates olanzapine-induced hypolocomotion in a rat model”
Altarifi AA, Arab L, Al-Azaizeh R, Khataybeh B, Al-Ghadi MQ, Khalifeh M.
Life. 2024 Nov 14;14(11):1482.

“Long-term effects of neonatal pain and sucrose treatment”
Nuseir K, Alzoubi KH, Altarifi A, Kassab M, Khabour OF, Al-Ghraiybah NF, Obiedat R.
Current Research in Pharmacology and Drug Discovery. 2024 Jan 29:6:100176.

“Knowledge and attitude of the general public toward palliative care in Jordan: a cross-sectional study”
Altarifi AA, Baker M, Abedal-Kareem K, Abu-Ishqair A, AbuMelhim Z, Abu Shetayyah S, Almhdawi KA.
American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, 2024 Feb 6. doi: 10.1177/10499091241231781.
“Pregabalin and gabapentin abuse among university students in Jordan: a cross sectional study” 
Altarifi A, Obeidat O, Guzu A, Said A, Albakheet M, Makkawi A, Hasan Z, Azab M, Alotaibi MR, Kheirallah K, Saleh T.
Electronic Journal of General Medicine. 2024, 21(1), em561.

“Preclinical comparison of antinociceptive effects between ibuprofen, diclofenac, naproxen, and acetaminophen on acid-stimulated body stretching and acid-depressed feeding behaviors in rats”
Altarifi AA, Younis BA, Nuseir KQ, Al-Mousa AA, Qaoud AK, Alsalem MI, Neubert JK.
Behavioral Pharmacology. 2022 Dec 1;33(8):567-574.

“Impairment in locomotor activity as an objective measure of pain and analgesia in a rat model of osteoarthritis”
Alsalem M, Haddad M, Altarifi AA, Aldossary SA, Kalbouneh H, Abojaradeh AM, El-Salem K.
Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine. 2020 Dec;20(6):165.

“Analgesic effects and impairment in locomotor activity induced by cannabinoid/opioid combinations in rat models of chronic pain” 
Alsalem M, Altarifi AA, Haddad M, Azab B, Kalbouneh H, Imraish A, Saleh T, El-Salem K.
Brain Sciences. 2020 Aug 6;10(8):523.

“Preclinical assessment of tramadol abuse potential: Effects of acute and repeated tramadol on intracranial self-stimulation in rats”
Altarifi AA, Moerke MJ, Alsalem MI, Negus SS.
Journal of Psychopharmacology. 2020 Aug 34(11): 1316- 1325.

“The desensitization of the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 by nonpungent agonists and its resensitization by bradykinin”
Alsalem M, Aldossary SA, Haddad M, Altarifi AA, Kalbouneh H, Azab B, Mustafa AG, Jaffal SM, El-Salem K.
Neuroreport. 2020 Aug 5;31(11):781-786.

“Antinociceptive and abuse potential effects of cannabinoid/opioid combinations in a chronic pain model in rats”
Alsalem M, Altarifi AA, Haddad M, Aldossary SA, Kalbouneh H, Aldaoud N, Saleh T, El- Salem K.
Brain Sciences. 2019 Nov 17;9(11)

“Effects of intraplanar administration of Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) on rotarod performance in mice”
Altarifi AA, Alsalem M, Mustafa A.
Scandinavian Journal of Pain. Jul 2, 2019.

“Effects of combined swimming exercise and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on inflammatory nociception in rats”
Altarifi AA, Kalha Z, Kana'An SF, Alfaqih MA, Alsalem MI.
Experimental and therapeutic medicine. 2019 May;17(5):4303-4311; 2019.

“Role of cannabinoid receptor 1 and the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α in mediating anti-nociceptive effects of synthetic cannabinoids and a cannabinoid-like compound”
Alsalem M, Haddad M, Aldossary SA, Kalbouneh H, Altarifi AA, Jaffal SM, Abbas MA, Aldaoud N, El-Salem K.
Inflammopharmacology. 2019, Apr 3.

“Early and late anti nociceptive effects of sucrose on neonatal inflammatory pain in rats: Comparison to a non- steroidal anti-inflammatory drug” 
Nuseir KQ, Altarifi AA, Tasslaq A, Alhusban AY, Alzoubi KH.
Physiology and Behavior. 2019 Jul 1;206:37-42.

 “Effects of acute and repeated treatment with the biased mu opioid receptor agonist TRV130 (oliceridine) on measures of antinociception, gastrointestinal function, and abuse liability in rodents”
Altarifi AA, David B, Muchhala KH, Blough BE, Akbarali H, Negus SS.
Journal of Psychopharmacology. 2017 Jun;31(6):730-739.

“Role of PPARα and PPARγ in mediating the analgesic properties of ibuprofen in vivo and the effects of dual PPARα/γ activation in inflammatory pain model in the rat”
Alsalem M, Altarifi A, Kalbouneh H, Al-Zer H, Azab B, El-Salem K.
International journal of pharmacology. 2016 Oct 12: 812-820.

“Anti-nociceptive and desensitizing effects of olvanil on capsaicin-induced thermal hyperalgesia in the rat”
Alsalem M, Millns P, Altarifi A, El-Salem K, Chapman V, Kendall DA.
BMC pharmacology and Toxicology. 2016 Jul 21;17(1):3.
“Effects of repeated morphine on intracranial self- stimulation in male rats in the absence or presence of a noxious pain stimulus”
Miller LL, Altarifi AA, Negus SS.
Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. 2015 Oct;23(5):405-14.

“Effects of ketoprofen, morphine, and kappa opioids on pain-related depression of nesting in mice”
Negus SS, Neddenriep B, Altarifi AA, Carrol FI, Leitl MD, Miller LL.
Pain. 2015, 156(6):1153-60.

“Differential tolerance to morphine antinociception in assays of pain-stimulated vs. pain-depressed behavior in rats”
Altarifi AA, Negus SS.
European Journal of Pharmacology. 2015, 5;748:76-82.

“Effects of μ-opioid receptor agonists in assays of acute pain-stimulated and pain-depressed behavior in male rats: role of μ-agonist efficacy and noxious stimulus intensity”
Altarifi AA, Rice KC, Negus SS.
Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 2015, 352(2):208-17.

“Effects of the novel, selective and low-efficacy mu opioid receptor ligand NAQ on intracranial self-stimulation in rats”
Altarifi AA, Yuan Y, Zhang Y, Selley DE, Negus SS.
Psychopharmacology. 2015, 232:815-824.
 “Abuse-related effects of µ-opioid analgesics in an assay of intracranial self-stimulation in rats: modulation by chronic morphine exposure”
Altarifi AA, Rice KC, Negus SS.
Behavioral Pharmacology. 2013, 24(5-6):459-70.

“Role of mu opioid receptor reserve and mu agonist efficacy on mu agonist effects on intracranial self-stimulation”
Altarifi AA, Miller LL, Negus SS.
Behavioral Pharmacology. 2012, 23(7):678-92.