Dr McAlister is a general surgeon, at University Hospital London, with special interest in hepatobiliary, endobiliary, transplant and combat surgery. He is the Angus D. McLachlin Professor of Surgery at the University of Western Ontario. He is a regular force member of the Royal Canadian Medical Service, Canadian Armed Forces, (rank Lieutenant Colonel) and has deployed overseas many times. His research interests include fundamental and clinical research in these areas as well as the history of medicine. He has been president of the Canadian Society of Transplantation and the Canadian Organ Replacement Registry. Dr McAlister was a member of council of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and was chair of Region Advisory Committee (RAC) 3 (Ontario and Nunavut) of the Royal College. He was co-editor-in-chief of the Canadian Journal of Surgery from 2013 until 2019.