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Zane Cohen Centre for Digestive Diseases
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Kenneth Croitoru

Gastroenterologist

Dr. Kenneth Croitoru joined the Division of Gastroenterology at Mount Sinai Hospital in January 2008. He completed medical school at McGill University in 1981 and trained in internal medicine and gastroenterology from 1982-1986. He went on to do post-doctoral training as an MRC Research Fellow in Mucosal Immunology with Dr. John Bienenstock at McMaster University. On completion of this research training he joined the Division of Gastroenterology at McMaster in 1992 where he went on to serve as Training Program Director and Associate Director of the Division. During this time he developed his research program with funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research, Canadian Association of Gastroenterology and the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada. He held an Ontario Ministry of Health Career Scientist award for 10 years and more recently was one of the first recipients of a 5 year CCFC IBD Research Scientist Award. He served as the Chair of the CCFC Medical Advisory Board and helped develop the CCFC IBD Research Institute where he served as Chair of the Executive Committee until 2008.

Dr. Croitoru joined the Department of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital as a Clinician Scientist in 2008 and is appointed to the Lunenfeld-Tannenbaum Research Institute. He is also a full Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, a member of the Institute of Medical Sciences and has a cross-appointment in the Department of Immunology.

His research is focused on investigating the fundamental mechanisms of intestinal inflammation, in particular the role of T cell effector and regulatory function in the intestinal mucosal in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The goal of his work is to understand how T cells function to maintain intestinal homeostasis in health and what defects in regulatory T cells allow for the breakdown of these mechanisms.

Dr. Croitoru is also Project Leader of, the GEM Project (www.GEMPROJECT.ca) a global clinical study that is coordinated out of the IBD Research Group and Zane Cohen Center at Mount Sinai Hospital. The study is a prospective cohort study of healthy subjects at risk of developing Crohn's disease. That will explore the Genetic, Environmental and Microbial factors that lead to Cohn's disease. This study has had over $15 million in funding from Crohn's Colitis Canada, CIHR and the Helmsley Charitable Trust.

Centre
Mount Sinai Hospital
Zane Cohen Centre for Digestive Diseases
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) Group

Contact
Phone: 416-586-4800 ext. 7454
Fax: 416-586-4747
E-mail: Ken.Croitoru@sinaihealth.ca

Administrative Secretary
Alice Trinh
Phone: 416-586-4800 ext. 7454
Fax: 416-586-4747
E-mail: Alice.Trinh@sinaihealth.ca

Office Location
Mount Sinai Hospital
Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Health Centre
437-600 University Avenue
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5G 1X5

Board Certificates
Royal College Certificate in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology
Specialist Certificate, Quebec, Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology
American Board of Internal Medicine Certification

Professional Organizations
American Gastroenterological Association
American Association of Immunologists
Canadian Association of Gastroenterology
Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver
Canadian Medical Association
Canadian Society for Immunology
Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada (Professional Member)
Ontario Association of Gastroenterology
Ontario Medical Association
Society for Mucosal Immunology

Publications

  • Vallance, B.A., Croitoru, K. and Collins, S.M.  T lymphocyte-dependent and -independent intestinal smooth muscle dysfunction in the T. spiralis infected mouse.  American Journal of Physiology 38:G1157-1165, 1998.
  • Xing, Z., Wang, J., Croitoru, K. and Wakeham, J.  Protection by CD4 or CD8 T cells against pulmonary Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guerin infection.  Infection and Immunity 66:5537-5542, 1998.
  • Radojevic, N., McKay, D.M., Merger, M., Vallance, B.A., Collins, S.M. and Croitoru, K.  Characterization of enteric functional changes evoked by In vivo anti-CD3 T cell activation. American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 45:R715-R723, 1999.
  • Bo, J., Jordana, M., Xing, Z., Smaill, F., Snider, D.P., Borojevic, R., Steele-Norwood, D., Hunt, R.H. and Croitoru, K.  Replication defective adenovirus infection reduces Helicobacter felis colonization in the mouse in an interferon-? and IL-12 dependent manner.  Infection and Immunity 67:4539-4544, 1999.
  • Merger M, Viney JL, Borojevic R, Steele-Norwood D, Zhou P, Clark DA, Riddell R, Maric R, Podack ER, Croitoru, K.  Defining the roles of perforin, Fas/FasL, and tumour necrosis factor alpha in T cell induced mucosal damage in the mouse intestine.  Gut 51:155-163, 2002.
  • Steinhart, A.H., Feagan, B.G., Wong, C.J., Vandervoort, M., Mikolainis, S., Croitoru, K., Seidman, E., Leddin, D.J., Bitton, A., Drouin, E., Cohen, A. and Greenberg, G.R. Combination Budesonide and antibiotic therapy for active Crohn’s disease: a randomized controlled trial. Gastroenterology 123(1):33-40, 2002.
  • Streutker, C.J., Bernstein, C.N., Chan, V.L., Riddell, R.H. and Croitoru, K.  Detection of species-specific Helicobacter ribosomal DNA in intestinal biopsy samples from a population-based cohort of patients with ulcerative colitis.  Journal of Clinical Microbiology 42(2):660-664, 2004.
  • Zhou, P., Borojevic, R., Streutker, C., Snider, D., Liang, H. and Croitoru, K.  Expression of dual TCR on DO11.10 T cells allows for ovalbumin-induced oral tolerance to prevent T cell-mediated colitis directed against unrelated enteric bacterial antigens.  Journal of Immunology 172:1515-1523, 2004.
  • Soderholm, J.D., Streutker, C., Yang, P.-C., Paterson, C., Singh, P.K., McKay, D.M., Sherman, P.M., Croitoru, K. and Perdue, M.H.  Increased epithelial uptake of protein antigens in the ileum of Crohn’s disease mediated by tumour necrosis factor a.  Gut 53:1817-1824, 2004.
  • Zhou, P., Streutker, C., Borojevic, R., Wang, Y. and Croitoru, K.  IL-10 modulates intestinal damage and epithelial cell apoptosis in T cell-mediated enteropathy.  American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, 287:G599-G604, 2004.
  • Mow, W.S., Landers, C.J., Steinhart, A.H., Feagan, B.G., Croitoru, K., Seidman, E., Greenberg, G.R. and Targan, S.R. High-level serum antibodies to bacterial antigens are associated with antibiotic-induced clinical remission in Crohn’s disease: a pilot study.  Digestive Diseases and Sciences 49:1280-1286, 2004.
  • Croitoru, K. and Zhou, P.  T-cell-induced mucosal damage in the intestine.  Current Opinion in Gastroenterology 20:581-586, 2004.
  • Panaccione, R., Fedorak, R.N., Aumais, G., Bernstein, C.N., Bitton, A., Croitoru, K., Enns, R., Feagan, B., Fishman, M., Greenberg, G., Griffiths, A., Marshall, J.K., Rasul, I., Sadowski, D., Seidman, E., Steinhart, H., Sutherland, L., Walli, E., Wild, G., Williams, C.N. and Zachos, M.  Canadian Association of Gastroenterology Clinical Practice Guidelines: the use of infliximab in Crohn’s disease.  Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology 18:503-508, 2004.
  • Shin, J.L., Teitel, J., Swain, M.G., Bain, V.G., Adams, P.C., Croitoru, K., Peltekian, K., Schweiger, F., Simons, M.E. and Heathcote, EJ.  A Canadian multicenter retrospective study evaluating transjugular liver biopsy in patients with congenital bleeding disorders and hepatitis C: Is it safe and useful?  American Journal of Hematology 78:85-93, 2005.
  • Alvarez, D., Swirski, F.K., Yang, T-C., Fattouh, R., Croitoru, K., Bramson, J.L., Stämpfli, M.R. and Jordana, M. Inhalation tolerance is induced selectively in thoracic lymph nodes but executed pervasively at distant mucosal and non-mucosal tissues. Journal of Immunology 176:2568-2580, 2006.
  • Bharhani, M.S., Borojevic, R., Basak, S., Ho, E., Zhou, P. and Croitoru, K.  IL-10 protects mouse intestinal epithelial cells from Fas-induced apoptosis via modulating Fas expression and altering caspase-8 and FLIP expression.  Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 291:820-829, 2006.
  • Mauro, M., Radovic, V., Zhou, P., Wolfe, M., Kamath, M., Bercik, P. Croitoru, K. and Armstrong, D.  13C urea breath test for Helicobacter pylori: Determination of the optimal cut-off point in a Canadian community population.  The Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology 20:770-774, 2006.
  • Chatterjee A, Swain MG, Lee SS, Bain VG, Peltekian K, Croitoru K, Adams PC, Kaita K, Teitel J and Heathcote EJ.  Induction versus noninduction antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus in patients with congenital coagulation disorders: a Canadian multicentre trial.  The Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology 21(2):91-95, 2007.
  • Wu L, Feng BS, He SH, Zheng PY, Croitoru K, Yang PC. Bacterial peptidoglycan breaks down intestinal tolerance via mast cell activation: the role of TLR2 and NOD2. Immunology and Cell Biology. Oct; 85(7):538-45, 2007.
  • Panancionne, R., Fedorak, R. N., Aumais, G., Bernard, E. J., Bernstein, C. N., Bitton, A., Croitoru, K., Dieleman, L. A., Enns, R., Feagan, B. G., Franchimont, D., Greenberg, G. R. Griffiths, A. M., Marshall, J. K., Pare, P., Patel, S., Penner, R., Render, C., Seidman, E., Steinhart, A. H. Review and Clinical Perspectives for the use of Infliximab in Ulcerative Colitis.  The Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology 22(3):261-272, 2008.
  • Verdu, E.F., Bercik, P., Huang, X.X., Lu, J., Al-Mutawaly, N., Sakai, H., Tompkins, T. A., Croitoru, K., Tsuchida, E., Perdue, M., Collins, S. M.  The role of luminal factors in the recovery of gastric function and behavioral changes after chronic Helicobacter pylori infection.  American Journal of Physiology: Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.  2008 Oct; 295(4):G664-70.
  • Heriazon A, Zhou P, Borojevic R, Foerster K, Streutker CJ, Ng T, Croitoru K. Regulatory T cells modulate staphylococcal enterotoxin B-induced effector T-cell activation and acceleration of colitis. Infect Immun. 2009 Feb;77(2):707-13. Epub 2008 Dec 8.
  • Stearns JC, Lynch MD, Senadheera DB, Tenenbaum HC, Goldberg MB, Cvitkovitch DG, Croitoru K, Moreno-Hagelsieb G, Neufeld JD. Bacterial biogeography of the human digestive tract. Scienctific Reports. 1:170, 2011.
  • Jones NL, Croitoru K, Vanner S, Soni R, Hope L. Research Topics in Gastrointestinal Disease: a report on the 10th meeting and an announcement of the 11th meeting. Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology. Aug;25(8):449-50, 2011.
  • Forster K, Goethel A, Chan CW, Zanello G, Streutker C, Croitoru K. An oral CD3-specific antibody suppresses T-cell-induced colitis and alters cytokine responses to T-cell activation in mice. Gastroenterology. Nov;143(5):1298-307, 2012.
  • Weizman AV, Ahn E, Thanabalan R, Leung W, Croitoru K, Silverberg MS, Steinhart AH, Nguyen GC. Characterisation of complementary and alternative medicine use and its impact on medication adherence in inflammatory bowel disease. Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Feb;35(3):342-9, 2012.
  • Leung W, Malhi G, Willey BM, McGeer AJ, Borgundvaag B, Thanabalan R, Gnanasuntharam P, Le B, Weizman AV, Croitoru K, Silverberg MS, Steinhart AH, Nguyen GC. Prevalence and predictors of MRSA, ESBL, and VRE colonization in the ambulatory IBD population. Journal of Crohns and Colitis. Aug;6(7):743-9, 2012.
  • Waterman M, Xu W, Dinani A, Steinhart AH, Croitoru K, Nguyen GC, McLeod RS, Greenberg GR, Cohen Z, Silverberg MS. Preoperative biological therapy and short-term outcomes of abdominal surgery in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Gut. Mar;62(3):387-94, 2013.