ABOUT DR LIANI SMIT
BACKGROUND AND UNDERGRADUATE TRAINING
MBChB (Stell) , MMed (Medical Genetics), FCMG (SA), DCH (SA), DipHIVMan (SA)
Dr Liani grew up in Cape Town, where she graduated as one of the top 20 matriculants in the Western Cape and Dux student of Tygerberg High School. Her compassionate, inquisitive nature and keen interest in understanding the human body, as well as the origin of disease, made the decision to pursue a career in medicine a natural choice.
In 2008, Dr Liani graduated top of her class in medical school, obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery cum laude from the University of Stellenbosch. She received several accolades at graduation, including the Faculty of Health Sciences’ Medal for Academic Excellence and the Rector’s Award for Excellent Achievement in Academics.
POSTGRADUATE TRAINING AND WORK EXPERIENCE
Before pursuing a career in medical genetics, Dr Liani completed 2-years medical internship at Tygerberg Hospital, a community service year at GF Jooste Hospital, and worked for several more years in a variety of medical fields. These include general practice, internal medicine, paediatrics and clinical research. During this time, she obtained additional postgraduate diplomas in Child Health and in HIV Management from the College of Medicine of South Africa. Her broad working experience across several medical disciplines cemented a foundation and understanding of health problems presenting in patients of all ages.
In 2020, Dr Liani completed the 4–year registrar training programme in Medical Genetics at Tygerberg Hospital. She received a Master of Medicine in Medical Genetics cum laude from Stellenbosch University and was admitted as a Fellow of the College of Medical Genetics of South Africa in the same year. She has attended international training courses of the European Society of Human Genetics, the Welcome Genome Campus (UK), and presented her research in genetics at both local and international conferences.
DR LIANI’S PRACTICE ETHOS
Dr Liani continues to consult as a sessional medical geneticist at Tygerberg Hospital’s paediatric genetic clinic and prenatal fetal medicine clinic. She remains involved in training of postgraduate students and registrars, departmental outreach activities and research. In her private practice she endeavours to establish access to comprehensive medical genetic care which is equivalent to international standards.
Dr Liani combines a patient’s family and medical history with clinical acumen, advanced computational phenotyping technology, and the latest local and international genetic testing technologies in pursuit of a diagnosis.
Dr Liani respects the profound impact living with a known or unknown genetic rare disease has on the lives of her patients and their families. She strives to help patients navigate the uncertainty and complexity of genetic conditions with accurate information, compassion, and support.