Alaa was the second youngest of nine siblings; six brothers and three sisters. His father Abdul Salam El-Husseini, a very renowned family in Palestine migrated from Jerusalem to Gaza after 1948. He passed away when Alaa was only five years old. Alaa was then raised largely by his mother, Jamila Khalidi and his sister Aida and brother Adly. Mrs Khalidi struggled to raise the nine children as a single mother, but she was never relaxed until all her children completed their University education. She was known for her beautiful smile, and her patience; she sadly passed away in March 2008 a week after Alaa’s Memorial service.

Even as a child Alaa was always fascinated by nature; his younger sister Abeir remembers him walking her to and from school, always collecting beetles and other small creatures. Alaa spent the first 11 years of his life in Gaza, he adored the outdoors and the ocean. At an early age, he was very interested in Freedom, Peace and always thought that Science had a lot of hidden secrets.

Because of the difficult life in Gaza, Alaa, only 12 and the family moved to Cairo, Egypt where he completed high school and graduated with honours majoring in Biochemistry at Ain Shams University. He then worked for an oil company in the UAE, but after three years of hard work, he saved enough money so he can pursue his interests in science and moved to Winnipeg, Canada where his uncle, Dr. Musa Khalidi, was a Professor of Sociology at the University of Manitoba.

In 1993 Alaa received his MSc in Physiology from the University of Manitoba, working with Bob Shiu from whom he learned many of the techniques of molecular biology. His interest in the mysteries of the brain then led him to the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada where he completed his doctorate in 1997 with Dr. Steve Vincent. He then undertook post-doctoral training at the University of California at San Francisco with David Bredt. Here Alaa began to make a name for himself as a rising star in the field of synapse development and neuronal plasticity.


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