Hi! Welcome to my digital abode!

My name is Saeed. I am a geneticist, a storyteller, and a PhD candidate at the University of Alberta.

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I work on next-generation genetic therapies for rare and currently untreatable diseases. My research explores how we can mend faulty and pathological genetic messages using small, synthetic DNA-like molecules called antisense oligonucleotides to restore normal function and, hopefully, bring healing to people who have long been overlooked. I’m especially focused on genetic and rare diseases of the musculoskeletal system.

 

I was born and raised in Bangladesh. I first became curious about genetics when I learned how a tiny mutation could change an entire life. That curiosity turned into purpose during my undergraduate years, when I studied thalassemia, progeria, and the genetic consequences of cousin marriages in Bangladeshi populations.

 

Before moving to Canada, I worked on everything from epidemic blood profiling during dengue and chikungunya outbreaks in Dhaka to launching Bangladesh’s first science kit for children in Bangla (OnnoRokom BigganBaksho). I’ve also written sci-fi books, many pop-science articles, and contributed to several science magazines to help make science feel more human and accessible.

 

Now, in my PhD, I design therapies for different forms of muscular dystrophies and fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. More broadly, I aim to build antisense oligonucleotide-based platforms that can treat not just one disease — but entire families of genetic conditions. I combine antisense technology with machine learning tools, nanotechnology, chemical modification strategies, and small molecules to enhance precision and efficacy of my therapeutic strategies.

 

Outside the lab, I mentor students, advocate for patients, support science education in underrepresented communities, and sometimes imagine the future in stories before I try to build it in real life.