Darius Bägli

Senior Associate Scientist

Dr. Darius Bägli joined the surgical staff at Sickkids at SickKids and the Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, in 1995. He is certified in Urologic Surgery by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the American College of Surgeons, the American Board of Urology and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Paediatrics. He directs a laboratory in cell & molecular biology and epigenetics in the hospital Research Institute focused on benign urological disease and maldevelopment. Dr. Bägli is one of the few paediatric urologists with an independent and longstanding basic research program in North America and the only one in Canada. His team’s research is supported by the CIHR, KFoC, and NIH. He is also conducting studies advancing artificial intelligence and deep learning in children’s urology.

Dr. Bagli oversees a busy clinical practice in paediatric urology and reconstructive surgery, and is actively involved in both the basic science and clinical training of the paediatric urology fellows, and graduate students at SickKids and U of T. 

Research

Children’s urological disease is often a result of external insults such as bladder obstruction, bacterial infection, and even the environmental chemical pressures that may drive genital maldevelopment in hyposdpais. Therefore, in recent years the Bagli Lab has taken an epigenetic approach to study mechanisms of disease in these areas. For example, bladder obstruction, a common issue in children form many causes, leads to muscle changes in the bladder wall resembling overgrowth and scarring. 

Dr. Bagli's lab has found evidence of epigenetic muscle cell responses in both petri dish models and animal studies under ‘obstruction’ cell environments. Examination of smooth muscle DNA reveals discrete epigenetic alterations that correlate well with expression changes and bladder dysfunction in obstructed bladders in vivo. Other studies in his lab have revealed DNA methylation (epigenetic) markers after uropathogenic E coli infection (UTI), and also by xenoestrogen-induced alterations in the development of male genital tract (hypospadias). 

Education and experience

• 2019–2020: Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Certificate; Michener Institute 
• 2018: IDEAS Quality Improvement Certificate; U of T 
• 1993–95: Pediatric Urology Fellowship; University of Washington 
• 1989–93: Urology Residency: Harvard Medical School 
• 1986–1989: Immunology/Oncology Research Fellowship NIH; Harvard Medical School 
• 1984–1986: General Surgery; Boston University 
• 1984: MD, CM McGill University, Montreal 
• 1977–1980: L. Mus. Piano Performance, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 
• 1980: B.Sc., Physiology, McGill University, Montreal 
• 1977: D.E.C. Marianopolis College, Montreal

Achievements

• 2016: Founding Member: European Society for Pediatric Urology Research Council 
• 2013: AUA Lecturer: Society for Basic Urology Research 
• 2012: Named Distinguished Mentor by American Urological Association and Research Foundation for Lifetime Achievements in Research and Training in Urology 
• 2011: 1st prize in Basic Science: AAP-Urology/SPU Meeting, Chicago. 
• 2003: 1st prize Basic Science-Robson Research Day for Stat 3 Kinase in Bladder Stretch Injury (Sarel Halachmi presented). 
• 2003: 2nd Prize Basic Science-Robson Research Day for Dissociated autologous urolthelial grafting for bladder augmentation in a porcine model (John Hodapp presented).
• 2003: 2nd Prize Clinical Research-Robson Research Day for The role of bacterial infection in pediatric acute epidydimo-orchitis (Sarel Halachmi presented).
• 2004: Service Award - Society for Basic Urologic Research received at the Spring 2004 annual meeting in recognition of your tremendous efforts, valuable service and insight in structuring and expanding the SBUR website and maintaining its function at a professional level.