Sajid Merchant
Associate Clinical Professor
Medical Genetics
Sajid Merchant is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Division of Medical Genetics at the University of Alberta and a Board-certified genetic counsellor. His work integrates clinical practice, program and team leadership, teaching and mentoring learners across stages of training, and professional governance contributions that strengthen and advance the genetic counselling profession locally and nationally.
Clinical Practice and Leadership
Sajid earned a Bachelor of Science in Genetics from the University of Alberta and a Master of Science in Human Genetics from Sarah Lawrence College. Shortly afterward, he obtained certification with the American Board of Genetic Counseling.
Sajid began his career at the North York General Genetics Program in Toronto, providing prenatal genetic counselling to a diverse patient population. Drawing on this early clinical foundation, he moved to the Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin where he practiced across prenatal, pediatric, adult, cancer, metabolic, and laboratory-based areas of genetic counselling. During this period, he published research in congenital scoliosis and served on the Institutional Review Board, as well as the Wisconsin State Advisory Committees on metabolic genetics and hemoglobinopathies.
Sajid then returned to his hometown of Edmonton to join the Medical Genetics Clinic at the University of Alberta. In the decades since, his clinical practice has evolved within prenatal and general genetics, honing expertise in inherited hemoglobin disorders, innovative service delivery models, and the legal and ethical dimensions of genetic counselling.
Sajid became the Clinic’s Lead genetic counsellor in 2007. The growing multidisciplinary team of genetic counsellors, genetic assistants, and nurses that he oversees delivers a wide range of genetics services. Over time, he was lucky enough to participate in several province wide initiatives, including the integration of cystic fibrosis into Alberta’s newborn screening program, strengthened coordinated care pathways, implemented new models of service delivery, and reduced wait times for patients.
Academic Teaching and Course Development
Since 2010, teaching and developing university courses in medical genetics and genetic counselling have remained central to Sajid’s academic contributions and interests. He created and currently teaches MDGEN407: An Introduction to Genetic Counselling (previously BIOL 490), an advanced undergraduate/graduate course to introduce learners to the principles and practice of genetic counselling. This innovative course offered a new opportunity for undergraduate learners, reflected in the publication: “Experiencing genetic counselling at the undergraduate level: A course to prepare students for practice.” Journal of Genetic Counseling. 2019;28(6):1214–1218. doi:10.1002/jgc4.1166. PMID: 31553101. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31553101/. More information about MEDGEN 407 is available at: https://sites.google.com/ualberta.ca/mdgen407/home
Sajid also helped to create and co‑instructs MDGEN403: Principles of Medical Genetics. More information is available at: https://apps.ualberta.ca/catalogue/course/mdgen/403
Guided by his clinical and educational experiences, Sajid is currently in process of co-developing a new graduate genetic counselling training program at the University of Alberta. This will be the first of its kind provincially and a significant expansion of accredited, high-quality training capacity in Western Canada for future genetic counsellors. In 2025, he co-created one of the program’s core graduate courses, MDGEN501: Medical Genetics and Genomics I. This provides a foundational overview of medical genetics principles in pediatric and adult settings. More information is available at: https://apps.ualberta.ca/catalogue/course/mdgen/501
Professional Regulation and Leadership
Sajid has a longstanding interest in the regulation and governance of the genetic counselling profession. He co‑founded the Alberta Association of Genetic Counsellors (AAGC) and is a past President of the organization. He continues to contribute to provincial and national efforts supporting professional regulation, advocacy, and public protection.
Sajid is also an active member of the Canadian Association of Genetic Counsellors (CAGC) and served as the national organization’s President in 2015.
Overall, Sajid’s clinical practice, educational leadership, and commitment to professional governance continue to shape the delivery and future of genetic counselling in Alberta.