Paediatric Pearls Conference

Dr. Merchant has over 18 years of experience in pharmaceutical research and development both from industry and academia. His expertise includes novel formulation design, biopharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, bioavailability and bioequivalence. He’s also contributed significantly to the evidence synthesis in COVID-19 to help safe use of medicine.

His clinical knowledge and expertise in pharmaceutical formulation helps in understanding the clinical and therapeutic principles underpinning the science of dosage form design and develop innovative solutions to improve the delivery and efficacy of medicines. 

He has also proposed an early therapeutic intervention strategy to help prevent the disease progression and hospitalisation. Before joining Huddersfield, Dr. Merchant has been associated with the University College London (UCL), where he investigated various technologies for drug delivery into the gastrointestinal tract and offered technical support and expert advice to collaborators and clients from academia and industry on various formulation and drug delivery aspects. One of his postdoc assignments at UCL was to develop a novel formulation for colonic delivery of statins. During his time at UCL, he has also developed novel in-vitro solutions for the assessment of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products in physiologically relevant conditions of the gut that helped a number of companies in formulation optimisation and candidate selection for clinical trials. 

Dr. Merchant was associated with Abbott Laboratories Ltd from December 2002 to November 2007 and served in various capacities such as quality, formulation, new product development, continuous improvement and project management. He is part of the editorial board for various scientific journals and is also a Deputy Editor-in-Chief for the British Journal of Pharmacy. He is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA UK), a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB), American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), Controlled Release Society (CRS) and the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Great Britain (APS). 

Dr. Merchant has a Pharmacy degree (BPharm) with a Masters (MPharm) from the University of Karachi and a PhD in Clinical Pharmaceutics from the University College London (UCL). He also has a PGD in Quality Management from the NED and a PGCert in Higher Education from the Huddersfield. 

Dr. Merchant has over 18 years of experience in pharmaceutical research and development both from industry and academia. His expertise includes novel formulation design, biopharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, bioavailability and bioequivalence. He’s also contributed significantly to the evidence synthesis in COVID-19 to help safe use of medicine.

His clinical knowledge and expertise in pharmaceutical formulation helps in understanding the clinical and therapeutic principles underpinning the science of dosage form design and develop innovative solutions to improve the delivery and efficacy of medicines.

He has also proposed an early therapeutic intervention strategy to help prevent the disease progression and hospitalisation. Before joining Huddersfield, Dr. Merchant has been associated with the University College London (UCL), where he investigated various technologies for drug delivery into the gastrointestinal tract and offered technical support and expert advice to collaborators and clients from academia and industry on various formulation and drug delivery aspects. One of his postdoc assignments at UCL was to develop a novel formulation for colonic delivery of statins. During his time at UCL, he has also developed novel in-vitro solutions for the assessment of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products in physiologically relevant conditions of the gut that helped a number of companies in formulation optimisation and candidate selection for clinical trials.

Dr. Merchant was associated with Abbott Laboratories Ltd from December 2002 to November 2007 and served in various capacities such as quality, formulation, new product development, continuous improvement and project management. He is part of the editorial board for various scientific journals and is also a Deputy Editor-in-Chief for the British Journal of Pharmacy. He is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA UK), a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB), American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), Controlled Release Society (CRS) and the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Great Britain (APS).

Dr. Merchant has a Pharmacy degree (BPharm) with a Masters (MPharm) from the University of Karachi and a PhD in Clinical Pharmaceutics from the University College London (UCL). He also has a PGD in Quality Management from the NED and a PGCert in Higher Education from the Huddersfield.

Dr. Muhammad Akhter Hamid is the Conference Director of the Paediatric Pearls Conference held by Scarborough Health Network and University of Toronto. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto (U of T), as well as a general peadiatrician, with a special interest in emergency medicine and global health at Scarborough Health Network (SHN).

Dr. Hamid is the Director of Paediatric Research and the Director of Resident’s Education at SHN. He is continuously involved in the teaching of medical students and residents from U of T and nursing students from York University. Dr. Hamid was involved in improving and creating new patient care guidelines for Provincial Council for Maternal and Child Health (PCMCH). In addition, He is also a member of the Research Ethics Board and Medical Education Committee.

Dr. Hamid previously worked at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, where he completed fellowships in Paediatric Emergency Medicine and General Paediatric Medicine. After completing his MBBS (1992) from Dow University of Health Sciences, in Karachi Pakistan, Dr. Hamid moved to Europe in 1995 and worked in Ireland and England. He completed his 5 year paediatric residency in England and a fellowship in Neonatal Intensive Care at St. Mary’s hospital London, UK.

In his spare time, he enjoys travelling and is involved in hospital fundraising.

Dr. Muhammad Akhter Hamid is the Conference Director of the Paediatric Pearls Conference held by Scarborough Health Network and University of Toronto. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto (U of T), as well as a general peadiatrician, with a special interest in emergency medicine and global health at Scarborough Health Network (SHN).

Dr. Hamid is the Director of Paediatric Research and the Director of Resident’s Education at SHN. He is continuously involved in the teaching of medical students and residents from U of T and nursing students from York University. Dr. Hamid was involved in improving and creating new patient care guidelines for Provincial Council for Maternal and Child Health (PCMCH). In addition, He is also a member of the Research Ethics Board and Medical Education Committee.

Dr. Hamid previously worked at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, where he completed fellowships in Paediatric Emergency Medicine and General Paediatric Medicine. After completing his MBBS (1992) from Dow University of Health Sciences, in Karachi Pakistan, Dr. Hamid moved to Europe in 1995 and worked in Ireland and England. He completed his 5 year paediatric residency in England and a fellowship in Neonatal Intensive Care at St. Mary’s hospital London, UK.

In his spare time, he enjoys travelling and is involved in hospital fundraising.