Hej! I’m Omar, a scientist from Southern California currently spending the year in Stockholm, Sweden, as a Fulbright researcher at Karolinska Institutet.
I studied chemistry at the University of Southern California, where I used electron microscopy to study the structures of proteins involved in cellular signaling. Along the way, study and research took me to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and to the UK, and I later began graduate study in biochemistry at Caltech.
At Karolinska, I study GPCRs, receptors involved in chemical signaling in the brain. My work focuses on how small molecules alter receptor activity and how those effects might be used to develop better treatments for Parkinson’s disease and related disorders. I work at the intersection of molecular pharmacology, cell biology, and drug discovery, using experiments in living cells to understand how candidate molecules behave and why.
Spending a year in Sweden also gives me the chance to see how science is practiced in a different academic culture and to experience life well beyond the laboratory. I am especially interested in photography, languages, Nordic design and architecture, museums, and the history of the places I visit. I also spend a fair amount of time cycling, running, and finding excuses to travel farther north.
I grew up speaking English, Spanish, and Arabic, and I have always been interested in how language and place shape the way people think. Over the course of the year, I hope to share both the research I am doing and the everyday experience of living in Stockholm, from the questions we ask in the lab to the places, people, and traditions that make Sweden distinct.
Want to learn how you could be a Fulbright Scholar like me? The Fulbright Program is the United States government's flagship international exchange program. Fulbrighters foster mutual understanding between the United States and partner nations, share knowledge across communities, and improve lives around the world. Learn more by clicking here!
