Uri is a senior researcher and head of experimental research at the Israel Center on Addiction and Mental Health at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. He completed his PhD in Social Psychology at the University of Arizona under the guidance of Prof. Jeff Greenberg. He worked as adjunct professor at Skidmore College, Tel-Aviv University, and Reichman University. His research focuses on psychological defense mechanisms to buffer anxiety and their relation to mental health and addictions, intergroup conflicts, political psychology, the human-animal relationship, and the psychology of social change. His research has been supported by the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, the Templeton foundation, and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.