Professor Raja Affendi Raja Ali earned his honours degree in medicine from the National University of Ireland (NUI) in 2000 (M.B., B.Ch., B.A.O.), followed by internships, senior house officer, and registrar training at University Hospital Galway and affiliated teaching hospitals. He obtained Membership of RCP Ireland and RCP Edinburgh in 2004 and completed a Masters in Medical Science (M Med.Sc) from NUI in 2005. Between 2005 and 2010, he underwent specialist registrar training in gastroenterology, hepatology, and internal medicine at various Irish teaching hospitals, culminating in the award of a certificate of completion of specialist training (CCST) by the RCP Ireland.

Additionally, he pursued further qualifications including a higher diploma in clinical teaching at NUI and a doctorate of Medicine (MD) for his research on the relationship between inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer at the department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics and Regenerative Medicine, NUI. Subsequently, he served as a consultant physician and gastroenterologist at University Hospital Galway before returning to the National University of Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, where he now holds a position as a consultant physician and gastroenterologist, as well as associate professor in Medicine. Dr. Raja Affendi has received research grants from the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, and various industries, focusing his research on areas such as inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, colorectal cancer, and the gut microbiome.