Zainab Alalawi, MD

Professional Background

Zainab Alalawi, M.D., is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Neurology. She completed her medical degree at the Charles University in Prague School of Medicine and her residency at the Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University Neurology Program. While at DMC/WSU, Dr. Alalawi received training in clinical neurophysiology.

Prior to joining the University of Kansas in 2025, Dr. Alalawi was a neurologist at Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare and Cheshire Medical Center. At the latter institution, she established and directed EEG services.

Dr. Alalawi’s clinical interests include clinical neurophysiology, lumbar puncture and VNS and RNS programming and management.

Research

Overview

Dr. Alalawi’s research interests include vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy, fatigue severity in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and the utility of EEGs in clinical practice. She has presented lectures and trainings on these subjects, in addition to training residents and medical students during their clinical neurophysiology rotations. She has co-authored articles on predictors of fatigue severity in MS patients, galectins in cancer and unusual complications of VNS therapy.