Dr. Alai is an actively practicing medical and surgical dermatologist at the Skin Center at Laguna in south Orange County, California. She has been a professor of dermatology and family medicine at the University of California, Irvine since 2000. She is U.S. board-certified in dermatology, a 10-year-certified fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology, and Fellow of the American Society of Mohs Surgery. Most recently, Dr. Alai received the honor of America's Top Dermatologists Award for 2007-2008 by the National Research Council. She was also the recipient of America's Top Physicians awards for 2004-2005. She has been selected to serve a two-year term as an expert medical reviewer by the California Medical Board in 2008.
Dr. Alai received a medical doctorate degree in 1994 from the University of South Alabama College of Medicine in Mobile, Alabama. Her undergraduate work included three years at the University of South Alabama, where she was a presidential scholar with high honors and nominated to multiple scholastic honor societies, including Phi Kappa Phi, Alpha Chi, Alpha Epsilon Delta, and Alpha Lambda Delta. There she was the recipient of the 1987 award to the freshman with a 4.0 GPA and the 1993 College of Medicine's Alumni Scholarship. After graduating from the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, she completed a rigorous general surgery internship, dermatology research fellowship, and dermatology residency at the University of California, Irvine.
Dr. Alai has published extensively and has authored numerous articles on subjects related to dermatology for prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals. She is a sought-after medical lecturer nationally and internationally and has presented over 75 grand rounds and continuing medical-education seminars. Dr. Alai has authored four chapters in medical textbooks, including the online text eMedicine. She has been a writer for several medical articles in the Orange County Register, Ashena Magazine, and WebMD/ MedicineNet. Dr. Alai has also authored multiple expert medical reviews for the Medical Board of California.
Dr. Alai has practiced general medicine and urgent care for 14 years, dermatology for nine years, and has dedicated the last 10 years to working as a professor, author, and lecturer in Southern California, where she currently resides with her husband and family.