Sajid Merchant

Associate Clinical Professor

Medical Genetics

Sajid Merchant graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Genetics from the University of Alberta in 1996. He continued with a Master of Science in Human Genetics from Sarah Lawrence College in 1999. In 2002, he gained Board certification with the American Board of Genetic Counseling.

Sajid began his career working in Toronto through the North York General Genetics Program providing prenatal genetic counseling to a diverse population. 2000 found Sajid moving to the United States and spending three years in central Wisconsin at Marshfield Clinic. There he worked in a multitude of areas of genetic counseling, including prenatal, pediatrics, adult, cancer, metabolics and laboratory-based work. He also began research work in congenital scoliosis, was a member of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and a member of the Wisconsin state advisory committee on metabolic genetics and hemoglobinopathies.

In 2003, Sajid moved back to Canada to his hometown of Edmonton and worked in prenatal and general genetics with Dr. Stephen Bamforth, Director of the Medical Genetics Clinic at the University of Alberta. He continues to work in various aspects of genetics, specializing in genetic counseling for inherited hemoglobin disorders, delivery of genetic counseling services, and legal and ethical aspects of genetic counseling.

Since 2007, Sajid has been the Lead Genetic Counselor for the Clinic's genetic counseling team. In this role he has helped oversee growth of the team from five genetic counselors to its current total of thirteen, including developing new genetic counseling programs at affiliated hospitals. He has also served in the role of the Clinic's Unit Manager, providing additional administrative support during this time.

Sajid is an active member of the Canadian Association of Genetic Counsellors, the national professional organization for the field, and currently serves on several committees and as the 2015 president. In 2010 he developed undergraduate and graduate-level courses in clinical genetics and genetic counseling at the the University of Alberta