Kameel is originally from Ramallah, Palestine where he grew up until he was 18 years old. He attended a Catholic school in the Old City of Jerusalem. He is a middle child, and has an older and a younger brother. As a child he initially wanted to study outer space when he grew up, but later developed a stronger interest in biology and medicine. He moved to the United States as an international student and attended the University of California, San Diego majoring in Applied Science. He then went on to study medicine at the University of Chicago, followed by residency training in Neurology and Epilepsy at Washington University (St. Louis) and the University of California, San Francisco. His professional interests and expertise lie in the areas of clinical Neurology and Epilepsy. His current research interests include understanding how seizures stop and how the brain recovers from seizures. He is also interested in genetic factors that contribute to epilepsy, in particular those on Chromosome 18. He is married to Lama who is a Math instructional coach at a charter school and has 3 children ages 24, 21 and 18. In his spare time, he likes to play the piano and read about the history of languages and religions.
