Dr. Kavalali was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey. He studied Electrical Engineering at Bogaziçi University in Istanbul. In 1995, he received his Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University. In 1999, he completed his postdoctoral studies at Stanford University in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology. He then joined the faculty at the Center for Basic Neuroscience at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas where he rose to the rank of Professor in the Departments of Neuroscience and Physiology. He also held the Rosewood Corporation Chair, in addition to serving as the Chair of the Neuroscience Graduate Program between 2008 and 2016. In 2018, Dr. Kavalali joined the Department of Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University as a Professor and the William Stokes Chair in Experimental Therapeutics. He currently serves as the Chair of the Department.