Saj Merchant

Area of Study / Keywords

About

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 counselling 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 counselling, 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 counselling for inherited blood disorders (hemoglobinopathies and hemochromatosis). Sajid has a particular interest in investigating new  methods for delivery of genetic counselling services.  This has led him to become a past co-chair of the Canadian Association of Genetic Counsellors Regulation Committee.  Sajid continues to work on the advancement of regulation of Genetic Counsellors in Alberta

Since 2007, Sajid has been the Lead Genetic Counselor for the Clinic's genetic counselling team. In this role he has helped oversee growth of the team from five genetic counselors to its current total of fifteen, including developing new genetic counselling positions 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 counselling at the the University of Alberta and continues to teach those courses today.

Research

Current areas of work:

1) determining the utility and practicality of undergraduate education in Genetic Counselling

2) a team member of the Alberta Rare Disease Precision Medicine Network, whose goal is to further the development of personalized medicine in Alberta by creating and implementing a network that guides the ethical use of genetic and phenotypic data in clinical care and research.

Past Publications:

Giampietro P.F., Raggio C.L., Reynolds C., Ghebranious N., Burmester J.K., Glurich I., Rasmussen K., McPherson E., Pauli R.M., Shukla S.K., Merchant S. et al.  (2006) DLL3 as a Candidate Gene for Vertebral Malformations.  American Journal of Medical Genetics 140: 2447-2453.

Giampietro P.F., Schowalter D.B., Merchant S, et al.  (2006) Widened clinical spectrum of the Q128P MECP2 mutation in Rett syndrome.  Childs Nervous System 22: 320-324.

Giampietro P.F., Raggio C.L., Reynolds C.E., Merchant S, et al.  (2005) An analysis of PAX1 in the development of vertebral malformations.  Clinical Genetics 68: 448-453

Giampietro P.F., Blank R.D., Raggio C.L., Merchant S, et al.  (2003) Congenital and Idiopathic Scoliosis: Clinical and Genetic Aspects.  Clinical Medicine and Research 2: 125-136.

Teaching

Teaching Philosophy

I believe that learning and teaching are a shared responsibility.  Ostensibly, the teacher is to provide the medium for student learning.  However, my thinking is that if the process is optimized, student questions will drive deeper thought and learning for the teacher, creating a learning circle that feeds both the student and teacher. Genetics, by its nature of being one of the newer medical science, means there is still much to learn; it is a fast paced, growing area of study.  Consequently, those in the field must view learning as a lifelong process.  I have found that interacting with students causes me to challenge my beliefs, understanding and refines and expands my body of knowledge.  

Since genetic counselling is a practice-based discipline, so too are my courses. Clinical practice enhances the quality and relevance of my teaching; observational activities and interaction with patients for students are a critical learning component that I provide. Further, allowing students to observe the practice of the skills and knowledge I have them learn through their assignments also affords leadership and modeling behavior opportunities.

I believe that learning at higher levels needs to be practical.  As such, my courses and assignments are all based on real-world situations.  My hope is that a student will never ask “why do I need to know this” or “how will I ever use this”? This fosters active student engagement with the course material. 

Further, I strongly value true understanding over simple memorization even if this costs “grades”; such an approach is critical to truly use one’s learning in real-life situations in an adaptable way.  This approach is emphasized in my classes and fosters critical thinking. Further, this leads to a facilitation of discussion and questioning of beliefs, particularly so in ethical based situations – which come up frequently in clinical medical genetics and genetic counselling. 

My relationship with my students is very important to me. I like to see the "whites of their eyes", which my independent studies courses facilitate well.  Further, my regular guest lecture on ethics and genetics is extremely interactive, providing challenging ethical scenarios that we work through together in groups.  Working with small classes or individual students has allowed me to have the personal contact I enjoy with my students. I try to create a safe environment in which students can openly share their opinions, questions and concerns. I am a fun teacher and also work closely with my students - building a sense of community in the classroom.

In science and medicine half the battle is asking the right question, not just having the “right” answer.  Thus, students are rewarded as much for asking questions as they are for knowing the answer.

As a practicing Genetic Counsellor in the Medical Genetics Clinic in Edmonton, I maintain my clinical skills through active patient care. These provide rich experiences that I can bring into my teaching to illustrate genetic counselling practice and health issues.  Attending education and research conferences in my field of practice provide other avenues for keeping abreast of changes in the field. My volunteer work with the national based genetic counselling professional society also keeps me abreast of new developments. Since learning is a lifelong process, I engage in ongoing professional development and reflection, which all hopefully enhance my teaching.

CELL 403 - Principles of Medical Genetics

The rapid expansion of our understanding of the human genome has created new, exciting possibilities to understanding the root causes of human disease and improve health. However, this also leads to real and potential problems - both ethical and practical. This senior level undergraduate course will consist of four modules each covering different aspects of the scientific theory underlying the practice of Medical Genetics. Topics will include core concepts in human genomics, developmental genetics, genetic variation, Mendelian and non-Mendelian traits, Mendelian disease as examples of key genomic concepts, methodologies that allow for screening of genetic disease and the theory supporting the practice of genetic counselling. This course will be based on didactic understanding of the topics and draw upon examples from the expertise of the instructors. Prerequisites CELL 201 or BIOL 201, 300 level course in CELL or GENET or consent of the Department. Note: Not to be taken by students with credit in MDGEN 403. In addition, not available to students currently enrolled in MDGEN 403.

MDGEN 403 - Principles of Medical Genetics

The rapid expansion of our understanding of the human genome has created new, exciting possibilities to understanding the root causes of human disease and improve health. However, this also leads to real and potential problems - both ethical and practical. This senior level undergraduate course will consist of four modules each covering different aspects of the scientific theory underlying the practice of Medical Genetics. Topics will include core concepts in human genomics, developmental genetics, genetic variation, Mendelian and non- Mendelian traits, Mendelian disease as examples of key genomic concepts, methodologies that allow for screening of genetic disease and the theory supporting the practice of genetic counselling. This course will be based on didactic understanding of the topics and draw upon examples from the expertise of the instructors. Prerequisites CELL 201 or BIOL 201, 300 level course in CELL or GENET or consent of the Department. Note: Not to be taken by students with credit in CELL 403. In addition, not available to students currently enrolled in CELL 403.

MDGEN 407 - Independent Studies in Genetic Counselling

An interactive course designed to provide undergraduate students insight into the role of a genetic counsellor through exploration of key topics. The class meets once a week for a 2-to-3-hour discussion. Each week students will be presented a typical genetic counselling case, which they will then write up and present to the entire class the following week. All students will then participate in the discussion of the case. Midterm(s) and/or finals consist of a 60 min presentation on a choice of various ethical issues currently impacting the field. The course is graded based on presentations, written assignments and participation. Open to undergraduate students with permission of the course instructor. Credit may only be obtained in one of MDGEN 407 or MDGEN 507.

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