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Hire Dr. KJ A.
Canada
USD 43 /hr
Freelance Medical Sciences Writer and Data Analyst with +20 years experience in medical research
Profile Summary
Subject Matter Expertise
Services
Writing
Medical Writing,
Technical Writing,
Creative Writing,
Newswriting,
General Proofreading & Editing
Research
Fact Checking,
Scientific and Technical Research,
Systematic Literature Review
Consulting
Scientific and Technical Consulting,
Regulatory Consulting
Data & AI
Statistical Analysis,
Image Analysis,
Data Visualization,
Big Data Analytics,
Data Insights
Product Development
Product Evaluation,
Concept Development
Work Experience
Senior Research Associate
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
January 2018 - January 2023
Senior Post-doctoral Fellow
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
July 2015 - December 2017
Research Fellow, CIHR Strategic Training Program in Regenerative Medicine
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
July 2012 - June 2015
American Urology Association Foundation Research Scholar
The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) | Toronto, Canada
July 2011 - June 2012
Education
PhD (Institute of Medical Sciences)
University of Toronto
January 2003 - February 2011 
Certifications
Publications
JOURNAL ARTICLE
K.J. Aitken, Annette Schröder, Ahmed Haddad, Martin Sidler, Frank Penna, Nicolas Fernandez, Tabina Ahmed, Vincent Marino, Matthew Bechbache, Jia-Xin Jiang, et al. (2024). Epigenetic insights to pediatric uropathology: Celebrating the fundamental biology vision of Tony Khoury . Journal of Pediatric Urology.
Karen J. Aitken, Panayiotis Maghsoudlou, Priyank Yadav, Martin Sidler, Thenuka Thanabalasingam, Tabina Ahmed, Prateek Aggarwal, Shing Tai Yip, Nefateri Jeffrey, Jia-Xin Jiang, et al. (2023). Spontaneous urinary bladder regeneration after subtotal cystectomy increases YAP/WWTR1 signaling and downstream BDNF expression: Implications for smooth muscle injury responses . PLOS ONE.
Schröder A, Aitken KJ, Jiang JX, Sidler M, Tölg C, Siebenaller A, Jeffrey N, Kirwan T, Leslie B, Wu C, et al. (2020). Persistent myopathy despite release of partial obstruction: in vivo reversal of dysfunction and transcriptional responses using rapamycin . FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
Martin Sidler, Karen J. Aitken, Jia-Xin Jiang, Chris Sotiropoulos, Prateek Aggarwal, Arsalan Anees, Cynthia Chong, Aliza Siebenaller, Thenuka Thanabalasingam, J. Maxwell White, et al.(2018). DNA Methylation Reduces the Yes-Associated Protein 1/WW Domain Containing Transcription Regulator 1 Pathway and Prevents Pathologic Remodeling during Bladder Obstruction by Limiting Expression of BDNF . The American Journal of Pathology. 188. (10). p. 2177--2194. Elsevier {BV}
Sidler M, Aitken KJ, Forward S, Vitkin A, Bagli DJ (2018). Non-invasive voiding assessment in conscious mice . Bladder (San Francisco, Calif.).
Sidler M, Aitken KJ, Jiang JX, Bägli DJ (2017). Nerve-sparing Mid-urethral Obstruction (NeMO) in Female Small Rodents . Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE.
Sidler M, Aitken K, Jiang J, Bijos D, Belik J, Bägli DJ (2017). Finding NeMO-Nerve-sparing Mid-urethral Obstruction: A Pathophysiologically Accurate Model of Rodent Partial Bladder Outlet Obstruction . Urology.
Ting K, Aitken KJ, Penna F, Samiei AN, Sidler M, Jiang JX, Ibrahim F, Tolg C, Delgado-Olguin P, Rosenblum N, et al. (2016). Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) Infection Induces Proliferation through Enhancer of Zeste Homologue 2 (EZH2) . PloS one.
Aitken, KJ and Sidler, Martin and Samiei, Alaleh and Delgado-Olguin, Paul and Bagli, Darius(2015). Mp19-05 The Hippo/mst Pathway Is A Crucial Part Of The Bladder Smc Response To Injury. The Journal of Urology. 193. (4). p. e217. Elsevier
Alali S, Aitken KJ, Schröder A, Gribble A, Bagli DJ, Vitkin IA (2014). Assessment of local structural disorders of the bladder wall in partial bladder outlet obstruction using polarized light imaging . Biomedical optics express.
Jesus LE, Schanaider A, Kirwan T, Aitken KJ, Caldas ML, Fonseca E, Marchenko A, Bagli DJ, Pippi-Salle JL (2013). Reduced flow after tubularized incised plate urethroplasty--increased fibrogenesis, elastin fiber loss or neither? . The Journal of urology.
Jiang JX, Aitken KJ, Sotiropoulos C, Kirwan T, Panchal T, Zhang N, Pu S, Wodak S, Tolg C, Bägli DJ (2013). Phenotypic switching induced by damaged matrix is associated with DNA methyltransferase 3A (DNMT3A) activity and nuclear localization in smooth muscle cells (SMC) . PloS one.
Jiang JX, Aitken KJ, Sotiropoulos C, Kirwan T, Panchal T, Zhang N, Pu S, Wodak S, Tolg C, Bägli DJ (2013). Phenotypic switching induced by damaged matrix is associated with DNA methyltransferase 3A (DNMT3A) activity and nuclear localization in smooth muscle cells (SMC) . PloS one.
Schröder A, Kirwan TP, Jiang JX, Aitken KJ, Bägli DJ (2013). Rapamycin attenuates bladder hypertrophy during long-term outlet obstruction in vivo: tissue, matrix and mechanistic insights . The Journal of urology.
Wilkins S, Zhang KW, Mahfuz I, Quantin R, D'Cruz N, Hutson J, Ee M, Bagli D, Aitken K, Fong FN, et al. (2012). Insertion/deletion polymorphisms in the ΔNp63 promoter are a risk factor for bladder exstrophy epispadias complex . PLoS genetics.
Alali S, Aitken KJ, Schröder A, Bagli DJ, Alex Vitkin I (2012). Optical assessment of tissue anisotropy in ex vivo distended rat bladders . Journal of biomedical optics.
Tolg, Cornelia and Sabha, Nesrin and Cortese, Rene and Panchal, Trupti and Ahsan, Alya and Soliman, Ashraf and Aitken, Karen J and Petronis, Arturas and B{\"a}gli, Darius J(2011). Uropathogenic E. coli infection provokes epigenetic downregulation of CDKN2A (p16INK4A) in uroepithelial cells. Laboratory investigation. 91. (6). p. 825--836. Nature Publishing Group
Aitken, Karen J and Tolg, Cornelia and Panchal, Trupti and Leslie, Bruno and Yu, Jeffery and Elkelini, Mohamed and Sabha, Nesrin and Derrick, J Tse and Lorenzo, Armando J and Hassouna, Magdy and others(2010). Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) induces proliferation and de-differentiation responses to three coordinate pathophysiologic stimuli (mechanical strain, hypoxia, and extracellular matrix remodeling) in rat bladder smooth muscle. The American journal of pathology. 176. (1). p. 304--319. Elsevier
Aitken, Karen J and B{\"a}gli, Darius J(2009). The bladder extracellular matrix. Part I: architecture, development and disease. Nature Reviews Urology. 6. (11). p. 596--611. Nature Publishing Group
Aitken, Karen J and B{\"a}gli, Darius J(2009). The bladder extracellular matrix. Part II: regenerative applications. Nature Reviews Urology. 6. (11). p. 612--621. Nature Publishing Group
Aitken, Karen J and Block, Gregory and Lorenzo, Armando and Herz, Daniel and Sabha, Nesrin and Dessouki, Omar and Fung, France and Szybowska, Marta and Craig, Laura and B{\"a}gli, Darius J(2006). Mechanotransduction of extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 mitogen-activated protein kinase activity in smooth muscle is dependent on the extracellular matrix and regulated by matrix metalloproteinases. The American journal of pathology. 169. (2). p. 459--470. Elsevier
Hafez, Ashraf T and B{\"A}GLI, DARIUS J and Bahoric, Andre and Aitken, Karen and Smith, Charles R and Herz, Daniel and Khoury, Antoine E(2003). Aerosol transfer of bladder urothelial and smooth muscle cells onto demucosalized colonic segments: a pilot study. The Journal of urology. 169. (6). p. 2316--2320. Elsevier
Herz, Daniel B and Aitken, Karen and Bagli, Darius J(2003). Collagen directly stimulates bladder smooth muscle cell growth in vitro: regulation by extracellular regulated mitogen activated protein kinase. The Journal of urology. 170. (5). p. 2072--2076. Elsevier
Irie-Sasaki, Junko and Sasaki, Takehiko and Matsumoto, Wataru and Opavsky, Anne and Cheng, Mary and Welstead, Grant and Griffiths, Emily and Krawczyk, Connie and Richardson, Christopher D and Aitken, Karen and others(2001). CD45 is a JAK phosphatase and negatively regulates cytokine receptor signalling. Nature. 409. (6818). p. 349--354. Nature Publishing Group
Irie-Sasaki, Junko and Sasaki, Takehiko and Matsumoto, Wataru and Opavsky, Anne and Cheng, Mary and Welstead, Grant and Griffiths, Emily and Krawczyk, Connie and Richardson, Christopher D and Aitken, Karen and others(2001). CD45 is a JAK phosphatase and negatively regulates cytokine receptor signalling. Nature. 409. (6818). p. 349--354. Nature Publishing Group
Capolicchio, Gianpaolo and Aitken, Karen J and Gu, Jenny X and Reddy, Pramod and B{\"A}gli, Darius J(2001). Extracellular matrix gene responses in a novel ex vivo model of bladder stretch injury. The Journal of urology. 165. (6). p. 2235--2240. Elsevier
Liu, Peter and Aitken, Karen and Kong, Young-Yun and Opavsky, Mary Anne and Martino, Tammy and Dawood, Fayez and Wen, Wen-Hu and Kozieradzki, Ivona and Bachmaier, Kurt and Straus, David and others(2000). The tyrosine kinase p56lck is essential in coxsackievirus B3-mediated heart disease. Nature medicine. 6. (4). p. 429--434. Nature Publishing Group
Opavsky, Mary Anne and Penninger, Josef and Aitken, Karen and Wen, Wen-Hu and Dawood, Fayez and Mak, Tak and Liu, Peter(1999). Susceptibility to myocarditis is dependent on the response of $α$$β$ T lymphocytes to coxsackieviral infection. Circulation research. 85. (6). p. 551--558. American Heart Association, Inc.
Martino, Tami A and Petric, Martin and Brown, Martha and Aitken, Karen and Gauntt, Charles J and Richardson, Christopher D and Chow, Lawrence H and Liu, Peter P(1998). Cardiovirulent coxsackieviruses and the decay-accelerating factor (CD55) receptor. Virology. 244. (2). p. 302--314. Elsevier
Aitken, K and Penninger, J and Martino, T and Liu, P(1998). The Role of TCR T Cells in Myocarditis-Insight Through TCR ^-^/^-Models. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CARDIOLOGY. 14. p. 364--364. PULSUS GROUP INC
Puley, Geoffrey and Dawood, Fayez and Wen, Wen-Hu and Hou, David and Backx, Peter and Sole, Michael J and Aitken, Karen and Liu, Peter(1998). The effect of a novel cardioprotector AAA-135 on the morphology and function in a viral model of cardiomyopathy. Journal of Cardiac Failure. 4. (3). p. 47. Churchill Livingstone
Aitken, Karen and Dawood, Fayez and Penniger, Josef and Irwin, Min and Wen, Wen-Hu and Liu, Peter(1998). The pattern of tissue cytokine expression in murine models of myocardial infarction. Journal of Cardiac Failure. 4. (3). p. 21. Churchill Livingstone
Woo, Anna and Stewart, Duncan J and Dawood, Fayez and Wen, Wen-hu and Aitken, Karen and Mclaughlin, Peter R and Liu, Peter P(1997). Interaction of Redox Modulation with Nitric Oxide in Ventricular Remodeling post Myocardial Infarction. Circulation. 96. (8S). p. 606--I.
Aitken, Karen and Penninger, Josef and Mak, Tak and Martino, Tami and Dawood, Fayez and Wen, Wen-hu and Liu, Peter P(1997). The Role of Cd30, Member of Tnf Receptor Signaling Family, in the Pathogenesis of Coxsackieviral Myocarditis. Circulation. 96. (8S). p. 424--I.
Sonnenberg, Brian and Penninger, Josef and Dawood, Fayez and Wen, Wen-hu and Aitken, Karen and Mak, Tak and Liu, Peter P(1997). The Role of Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase in a Model of Acute Myocardial infarction-insight Through Irf-1 Transgenic Knockout Mice. Circulation. 96. (8S). p. 170--I.
Liu, P and Penninger, J and Aitken, K and Sole, M and Mak, T(1995). The role of transgenic knockout models in defining the pathogenesis of viral heart disease. European heart journal. 16. (suppl\_O). p. 25--27. Oxford University Press
OTHER
Martin Sidler, Abdalla Ahmed, Jia-Xin Jiang, Dursa Koshkebaghi, Priyank Yadav, Dariush Davani, Ryan Huang, Rosanna Weksberg, Paul Delgado-Olguin, KJ Aitken, et al.(2021). Human - murine concordance of molecular signatures in nerve-sparing murine partial bladder outlet obstruction (NeMO) . Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Baluch, Narges and Mokhtari, Reza Bayat and Homayouni, Tina and Akbari, Pedram and Heshmati, Fatemeh and Islam, Syed S and Kumar, Sushil and Aitken, Karen and Fitzpatrick, Carrie and Yeger, Herman(2015). Abstract C28: The combination of Acetazolamide and Sulforophane targets the tumor initiating cells in human bronchial carcinoids. American Association for Cancer Research
CONFERENCE PAPER
Alali, Sanaz and Aitken, Karen and Bagli, Darius and Vitkin, Alex(2012). Optical assessment of anisotropy in ex vivo rat bladders. CLEO: Science and Innovations. p. JTh2A--4.
Tse, Derrick and Aitken, Karen J and Sabha, Nesrin and Fung, France and Lorenzo, Armando J and Bagli, Darius J(2007). Inhibition of proliferation by rapamycin in rat bladder smooth muscle cells. JOURNAL OF UROLOGY. 177. (4). p. 241--242.
Nakamura, H and Penninger, J and Aitken, K and Dawood, F and Wen, WH and Liu, PP(2000). Tolerance induction: A new strategy to reduce autoimmune cardiovascular injury after exposure to Chlamydia peptide. CIRCULATION. 102. (18). p. 251--251.
Sun, M and Aitken, K and Opavsky, A and Bendeck, M and Rabinovitch, M and Liu, PP(1999). Temporal and geographical localization of integrins beta 1 and beta 3 in the rat heart following myocardial infarction: Role in scar formation and angiogenesis. CIRCULATION. 100. (18). p. 129--129.
Hou, D and Aitken, K and Irwin, MW and Parker, T and Sole, MJ and Tsoporis, J and Liu, P(1998). Inducible heme-oxygenase-1, generator of carbon monoxide, is upregulated in the post-infarction myocardium, and interacts with nitric oxide synthase. CIRCULATION. 98. (17). p. 248--248.
Aitken, K and Penninger, J and Mak, T and Martino, T and Dawood, F and Wen, WH and Liu, PP(1997). Does cytokine induction in p56 (lck) knockout mice annul the resistance to coxsackieviral myocarditis?. CIRCULATION. 96. (8). p. 2363--2363.
Liu, PP and Dawood, F and Wen, WH and McLaughlin, PR and Aitken, K(1997). Heterogeneity of myocardial blood flow in viral myocarditis dilated cardiomyopathy: An in-situ autoradiography study. CIRCULATION. 96. (8). p. 2113--2113.
Woo, A and Stewart, D and Dawood, F and Wen, WH and Aitken, K and McLaughlin, PR and Liu, PP(1996). The effect of nitric oxide modulation on LV function & remodeling following large myocardial infarction. CIRCULATION. 94. (8). p. 3843--3843.
Irwin, M and Qu, R and Chiamvimonvat, V and Aitken, K and Mak, S and Dawood, F and Wen, WH and Penninger, J and Liu, PP(1996). The relationship between tumor necrosis factor-alpha and myocyte apoptosis and necrosis: In vivo and in vitro evidence. Circulation. 94. (8). p. 177--177.
Opavsky, MA and Penninger, J and Aitken, K and Wen, WH and Dawood, F and Mak, T and Liu, PP(1996). The role of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes in the pathogenesis of myocarditis: Insight through transgenic knockout models. Circulation. 94. (8). p. 3937--3937.
AITKEN, K and PENNINGER, J and MAK, T and DAWOOD, F and WEN, WH and MARTINO, T and SOLE, M and LIU, P(1995). IRF-1 TRANSGENIC MICE SHOW INCREASED SUSCEPTIBILITY TO COXSACKIEVIRAL MYOCARDITIS. JOURNAL OF CELLULAR BIOCHEMISTRY. p. 283--283.
MARTINO, T and Aitken, K and Penninger, J and Mak, T and Sole, MJ and Dawood, F and Wen, WH and Liu, P(1995). MICE WITH P56 (LCK) T-LYMPHOCYTE TYROSINE KINASE KNOCKED OUT ARE RESISTANT TO COXSACKIEVIRAL MYOCARDITIS. CIRCULATION. 92. (8). p. 3788--3788.
Aitken, K and Peninger, J and Mak, T and Chow, L and Dawood, F and Wen, WH and Martino, T and Liu, P(1994). Increased susceptibility to coxsackieviral myocarditis in IRF-1 transgenic knockout mice. Circulation. 90. (4). p. 139--139.
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