Alaa Abd-Elsayed completed his MBBCh and MPH at Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt in 2000 and 2006, respectively. He did an internship at Assiut University Hospitals, Assiut, Egypt and completed a clinical research fellowship in Anesthesiology at Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He then moved to the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA for a further internship, residency in anesthesiology and fellowship in pain medicine. Since 2014 he has worked at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, WI, USA, starting as Assistant Professor/Staff Anesthesiologist and now as Medical Director for the UW Pain Clinic and Director of Pain Services for UW Health.