Essack qualified as a medical doctor at the University of KwaZulu Natal Medical School in 1998. After serving his internship and community service posts in Pretoria, he went on to obtain a Diploma in Obstetrics and Emergency Gynaecology.Essack joined the Newtown Medical Practice in 2002, and established the Newtown Clinical Research Centre in 2004. He has worked as a full time Principal Investigator since 2005. The research centre has built up a reputation of providing excellent recruitment whilst maintaining high quality data. Over the years, Essack has dedicated himself to Clinical Research, and improving the perception and performance of South Africa in the Global Clinical Research Environment. He has served as an Exco member of the South African Clinical Research Association (SACRA) in 2009, 2010 and 2019-2020. He has served as a reviewer for DMTS Ethics Committee in South Africa (2018 - 2020). Essack currently serves as an external evaluator for SAHPRA (South African Health Products Regulatory Authority).Essack has published various articles, and has been invited to speak at local and international conferences. He has served on an Impetigo Global Scientific Advisory Board. Essack has co-founded Sandton Medical Research, which is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.