Brief Bio

Science

I received my PhD in 1999 from University College London. The thesis described the characterization of the Purkinje-cell type dystrophin promoter and transcript. My first post-doc was with Prof. Steve Marston at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College studying mutations in troponin leading to Familial Dilated Cardiomyopathy. After that I worked briefly at Harvard University in the lab of Prof. Amin Arnaout, studying unusual DNA structures in the promoter of an integrin gene. I returned to Imperial College in 2002 to work with Dr. Clare Huxley on Mammalian Artificial Chromosomes and other episomal vectors. Since 2006, I have been working on stem cell research. I often comment on breaking science stories for the Arabic department of the BBC  (TV & Radio).

Arts

See Baghdad Wedding, The Prophet and Writing pages.