Summary
My interests focus on molecular organization in human health and disease. With a billion proteins packed into a cell, cross-talk and non-specific interactions should dominate. However, cells have evolved subcellular organizational strategies to overcome this. Two crucial strategies are protein complexes and subcellular recruitment.
How do protein complexes provide the spatial and temporal compartmentalization needed to accomplish cellular processes?
How do mutations that disrupt this organization cause disease?
Our current efforts are working to understand the molecular events and regulatory elements that underlie stress hormone production by the adrenal glands. Other projects will investigate how protein kinase A regulation impacts tumor growth and neuronal function. Commonly used techniques include classic molecular biology and cell culture as well as live-cell fluorescent imaging, proximity proteomics, and CRISPR gene-editing. Ultimately, the Omar lab intends to reveal cellular and molecular mechanisms governing vital physiology and to identify new strategies to ameliorate and prevent human disease.
Education
- B.A. English, Minnesota State University Moorhead, 2007
- B.S. Biology, University of Iowa, 2011
- Ph.D. Neuroscience, Yale University, 2017