Faculty profile

Catherine Birken

ResearcherDepartment of Nutritional SciencesUniversity of Toronto

This profile is built from public research funding records (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC) and PubMed. We have not imported them from a University of Toronto directory, so their courses and email address may be missing. Find their university profile.

Catherine Birken

Researcher

Department of Nutritional Sciences

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

University of Toronto

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Supervision signals

Has led research grants, which requires an independent research appointment. Ask their department whether they supervise graduate students.
28 publications in the last five years, latest in 2026.
Senior (last) author on 6 recent papers, a sign of leading a research group.
Principal investigator on 17 research grants (17 CIHR), most recently in 2024.
Supervisor on 4 trainee awards (4 CIHR), most recently in 2025.

These signals come from public records, including CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions. Ask the professor or the graduate program whether they are taking new students.

Academic metrics

Publications

331

Citations

100

Collaborators

Grants

Publications by year

Counts cover the publications linked to this profile. Citations and the h-index appear when the source records them.

Profiles and links

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Signals and details

Research

Epidemiology Covid-19 Nutrition Cohort Pediatrics Learning Randomized Controlled Trial Preconception

Latest papers

Influence of Paternal Preconception Health on Miscarriage and Time to Pregnancy: A Scoping Review.
Archives of medical research · 2026
eMental Health Resources for Youth: Parent Perceptions of AI Matched eMental Health Resources for Their Child.
Clinical child psychology and psychiatry · 2026
Caregiver Hospital-Based Food Insecurity in a Canadian Tertiary Care Pediatric Hospital.
Hospital pediatrics · 2026

All 54 publications

Latest funding

Analysis of Pre-pregnancy and Pregnancy-Related Obesity on Adult and Child Health (APPROACH)
CIHR · 2026 · Co-investigator
$428,400
The Role of Parents in Establishing Healthy Eating Behaviours in Children
CIHR · 2025 · Supervisor
$120,000
A pragmatic, individualized, e-health lifestyle intervention to optimize cardiometabolic health in pregnancy planning women and their partners: setting the stage for improved intergenerational health across diverse Canadian communities.
CIHR · 2024 · Principal investigator
$20,000

All 64 grants and awards

54 publications.

Influence of Paternal Preconception Health on Miscarriage and Time to Pregnancy: A Scoping Review.

Dol J, Goyal D, McQueen K, Dennis-Grantham A, de Sousa JCG, Singla DR, Nkurunziza A, Dick JA, Birken C, Dennis CL

Archives of medical research2026

DOI: 10.1016/j.arcmed.2026.103447 PMID: 42184595

eMental Health Resources for Youth: Parent Perceptions of AI Matched eMental Health Resources for Their Child.

de la Roche L, Korczak D, Charach A, Birken C, Tsujimoto K, Crosbie J, Cost K, Schumacher A, Anagnostou E, Monga S, Kelley E

Clinical child psychology and psychiatry2026

DOI: 10.1177/13591045251413293 PMID: 41460022

Caregiver Hospital-Based Food Insecurity in a Canadian Tertiary Care Pediatric Hospital.

Hardy C, Devenyi RB, Beck CE, Mauti SM, Maccarone T, Sappleton K, Hamilton J, Lazor T, Tootoonchinia S, Birken C, van den Heuvel M

Hospital pediatrics2026

DOI: 10.1542/hpeds.2024-008315 PMID: 41554509

Social Skills as a Predictor of Mental Health Trajectories among Autistic Youth and Youth with ADHD during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Susko M, Korczak DJ, Cost KT, Charach A, Crosbie J, Anagnostou E, Birken C, Monga S, Nicolson R, Arnold PD

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology20252 citations

DOI: 10.1007/s10802-025-01365-3

Prospective harmonisation of four international randomised controlled trials in Canada, China, India and South Africa: the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative

Bergeron J, Nechba A, Tiali SEB, Atkinson S, Birken C, Draper C, Krishnaveni GV, Fraser W, Dennis CL, Abdelouahab N

BMJ Open20251 citations

DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-086233

Influential Factors on Participation in Mental Health Research:Directing Future Research Methods.

de la Roche L, Korczak D, Charach A, Birken C, Tsujimoto K, Crosbie J, Cost K, Schumacher A, Anagnostou E, Monga S, Kelley E

Child psychiatry and human development2025

DOI: 10.1007/s10578-025-01894-4 PMID: 40839294

Reliability of Anthropometric Measurement of Young Children with Parent Involvement.

Rae S, Pullenayegum E, Ong F, Dennis CL, Hamilton J, Maguire J, Birken C

Childhood obesity (Print)2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1089/chi.2023.0065 PMID: 39169843

Effectiveness of surgical interventions for managing obesity in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta‐analysis framed using minimal important difference estimates based on GRADE guidance to inform a clinical practice guideline

Oei K, Johnston BC, Ball GDC, Fitzpatrick‐Lewis D, Usman A, Sherifali D, Esmaeilinezhad Z, Merdad R, Dettmer E, Erdstein J

Pediatric obesity20248 citations

DOI: 10.1111/ijpo.13119

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among children receiving primary care in Toronto, Ontario

Aglipay M, Kwong JC, Colwill K, Gringas A-C, Tuite A, Mamdani M, Keown-Stoneman C, Birken C, Maguire J

Canadian Journal of Public Health20243 citations

DOI: 10.17269/s41997-024-00916-3

Experiences of Financial Stress and Supports in Caregivers During Pediatric Hospital Admission.

Nadarajah A, Lazor T, Meserve A, Buchanan F, Birken C, van den Heuvel M

Hospital pediatrics2024

DOI: 10.1542/hpeds.2023-007453 PMID: 38495016

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their CIHR grant from 2024

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Epidemiology Dear Professor Birken, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Influence of Paternal Preconception Health on Miscarriage and Time to Pregnancy: A Scoping Review." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "A pragmatic, individualized, e-health lifestyle intervention to optimize cardiometabolic health in pregnancy planning women and their partners: setting the stage for improved intergenerational health across diverse Canadian communities." (2024), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]

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Catherine Birken

Research

Latest papers

Latest funding

Influence of Paternal Preconception Health on Miscarriage and Time to Pregnancy: A Scoping Review.

eMental Health Resources for Youth: Parent Perceptions of AI Matched eMental Health Resources for Their Child.

Caregiver Hospital-Based Food Insecurity in a Canadian Tertiary Care Pediatric Hospital.

Social Skills as a Predictor of Mental Health Trajectories among Autistic Youth and Youth with ADHD during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Prospective harmonisation of four international randomised controlled trials in Canada, China, India and South Africa: the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative

Influential Factors on Participation in Mental Health Research:Directing Future Research Methods.

Reliability of Anthropometric Measurement of Young Children with Parent Involvement.

Effectiveness of surgical interventions for managing obesity in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta‐analysis framed using minimal important difference estimates based on GRADE guidance to inform a clinical practice guideline

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among children receiving primary care in Toronto, Ontario

Experiences of Financial Stress and Supports in Caregivers During Pediatric Hospital Admission.

Frequent collaborators

Jill Hamilton

Cindy-Lee Dennis

Jonathon Maguire

Magdalena Janus

Flavia Marini

Alice Charach

Mary Aglipay

Peter Szatmari

Laura Anderson

Jennifer Crosbie

Evdokia Anagnostou

Elizabeth Kelley

Daphne Korczak

Stephanie Atkinson

Eric Duku

Stelios Georgiades

Kevin Thorpe

Stephen Lye

Eleanor Pullenayegum

Katherine Cost

Alene Toulany

Yvonne Bombard

Jean-Patrice Baillargeon

Patricia Parkin

Suneeta Monga

Sarah Carsley

Evelyn Constantin

Marni Brownell

Erika Tavares

Sheri Madigan

Jess Haines

Nicole Letourneau

Diana Sherifali

Teresa Bennett

Katherine Morrison

Anne Fuller

Jan Willem Gorter

Ravi Retnakaran

Andreas Laupacis

Eyal Cohen