Assistant Professor

Kozeta Miliku

Department of Nutritional Sciences

MD, PhD

Publications

Location

Medical Sciences Building

Address

1 King's College Circle, Toronto, Ontario Canada M5S 1A8

Research Interests

adolescent nutrition, asthma, child nutrition, DOHaD, growth trajectories, nutrition through the life course, paternal diet, preconception nutrition, cardiometabolic health, child health, obesity

Appointment Status

Primary

Accepting

Pending the availability of funding

Qualification

Postdoctoral Fellowship, Pediatrics/Epidemiology, University of Manitoba & McMaster University (2017-2022)
PhD, Clinical Epidemiology, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (2014-2017)
DSc, Clinical Epidemiology, Netherlands Institute for Health Sciences, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (2014-2015)
MSc, Health Sciences, Netherlands Institute for Health Sciences, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (2013-2014)
MD, University of Medicine of Tirana, Tirane, Albania (2007-2013)

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At a Glance

Dr. Miliku's lab research bridges clinical and nutritional epidemiology to investigate how diet and lifestyle influence multimorbidity risk across the life course. Miliku lab program focuses on critical periods of development, the prenatal period - including both maternal and paternal health - as well as early childhood and adolescence, aiming to identify windows for preventive interventions. The ultimate goal is to generate high-quality evidence that informs public health policies and clinical guidelines to support lifelong health.

Lab website: https://www.milikulab.ca/home

About Dr. Kozeta Miliku

Dr. Kozeta Miliku obtained her Medical Doctorate in 2013 at the Medical University of Tirana in Albania. She received her doctoral degree in Clinical Epidemiology in May 2017 at the Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands. Her PhD thesis entitled: “Early life nutrition, growth and kidney function in children” studied the role of genetics, maternal health and nutritional factors on fetal growth and childhood kidney function in children. Dr. Miliku’s postdoctoral research at the University of Manitoba (2017-2020) and McMaster (2020-2022) focused on understanding the role of nutrition and genetics in the developmental origins of chronic disease, including cardiometabolic health, asthma and allergies among Canadian children. At the University of Toronto, Dr. Miliku’s lab will continue to study the impact of nutrition through a life course perspective. The main two focuses will be preconception nutrition with a specific focus on the paternal diet; and nutrition during puberty and adolescence, a critical window of development. Dr. Miliku is also the Clinical Science Officer of the CHILD Cohort Study, one of the largest Canadian birth cohorts. She is the co-chair of DOHaD Canada – EDII committee.

Dr. Miliku teaches the NFS382 course "Vitamin & Mineral Metabolism Throughout the Life-Cycle".

Recent Awards and Distinctions (Selected)

Research Recognition Award - Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (2024)

Michelle Harkness Mentorship Award (2020)

Canadian Lung Association Fellowship (2018-2020)

National and International Committee Memberships (Current)

Advisory Member, Nutrition Policy for Chronic Disease Prevention, World Health Organization Collaborating Centre

Co-Chair, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigeneity (EDII) Committee, DOHaD Canada Society

Chair, Sears Undergraduate Studentship Committee, CHILD Cohort Study

ECR Co-Chair, Trainee & Networking Committee, 2022 World Conference of Developmental Origins of Health & Disease

Program and Executive Committee Member, 2022 World Conference of Developmental Origins of Health & Disease

Workshop Committee Member, International DOHaD Society

Recent Publications

Chen ZH, Jacobson G, Reyna ME, Parvulescu P, de Souza RJ, Palmert MR, Lou W, Campisi SC, Simons E, Turvey SE, Moraes TJ, Mandhane PJ, Subbarao P, Miliku K. Associations of dietary patterns and obesity development in school-aged children: results from the CHILD Cohort Study. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2025 Jun 18. doi: 10.1002/oby.24294. PMID: 40530484.
Rossi A, Chen ZH, Ahmadiankalati M, Campisi SC, Reyna ME, Dempsey K, Jenkins D, O'Connor D, El-Sohemy A, Mandhane PJ, Simons E, Turvey SE, Moraes TJ, Lu Z, Subbarao P, Miliku K. Determining the interplay of prenatal parental BMI in shaping child BMI trajectories: the CHILD Cohort Study. Int J Obes (Lond). 2025 May 12. doi: 10.1038/s41366-025-01792-8. PMID: 40355590.
Chen ZH, Mousavi S, Mandhane PJ, Simons E, Turvey SE, Moraes TJ, Subbarao P, Miliku K. Ultraprocessed Food Consumption and Obesity Development in Canadian Children. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Jan 2;8(1):e2457341. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.57341. PMID: 39888617; PMCID: PMC11786234.
Miliku K, Reyna ME, Medeleanu M, Dai R, Dubeau A, Lefebvre DL, Wright K, Dawod B, Beck M, Brooks E, Kobor M, Duan Q, Brook JR, Lou W, Brinkman FSL, Winsor GL, Cook J, Becker AB, Simons E, Mandhane PJ, Moraes TJ, Azad MB, Sears MR, Turvey SE, Subbarao P; CHILD Study Investigators. From Fetus to Eight: the CHILD Cohort Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2024 Oct 11:kwae397. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwae397. PMID: 39393830.
Fang ZY, Stickley SA, Ambalavanan A, Zhang Y, Zacharias AM, Fehr K, Moossavi S, Petersen C, Miliku K, Mandhane PJ, Simons E, Moraes TJ, Sears MR, Surette MG, Subbarao P, Turvey SE, Azad MB, Duan Q. Networks of human milk microbiota are associated with host genomics, childhood asthma, and allergic sensitization. Cell Host Microbe. 2024 Oct 9;32(10):1838-1852.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2024.08.014. Epub 2024 Sep 17. PMID: 39293435.
Ambalavanan A, Miliku K, Robertson B, Turvey SE, Mandhane PJ, Simons E, Moraes TJ, Anand SS, Paré G, Williams JE, Murdoch BM, Otoo GE, Mbugua S, Kamau-Mbuthia EW, Kamundia EW, Gindola DK, Rodriguez JM, Pareja RG, Sellen DW, Moore SE, Prentice AM, Foster JA, Kvist LJ, Neibergs HL, McGuire MA, McGuire MK, Meehan CL, Sears MR, Subbarao P, Azad MB, Bode L, Duan Q. Human milk oligosaccharides are associated with maternal genetics and respiratory health of human milk-fed children. Nat Commun. 2024 Sep 4;15(1):7735. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-51743-6. PMID: 39232002; PMCID: PMC11375010.
Wiedeman AM, Miliku K, Moraes TJ, Mandhane PJ, Simons E, Subbarao P, Turvey SE, Zwicker JG, Devlin AM. Women in Canada are consuming above the upper intake level of folic acid but few are meeting dietary choline recommendations in the second trimester of pregnancy: data from the CHILD cohort study. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2024 Jun 1;49(6):868-873. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2023-0258. Epub 2024 Feb 6. PMID: 38320263.
Becker M, Fehr K, Goguen S, Miliku K, Field C, Robertson B, Yonemitsu C, Bode L, Simons E, Marshall J, Dawod B, Mandhane P, Turvey SE, Moraes TJ, Subbarao P, Rodriguez N, Aghaeepour N, Azad MB. Multimodal machine learning for modeling infant head circumference, mothers' milk composition, and their shared environment. Sci Rep. 2024 Feb 5;14(1):2977. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-52323-w. PMID: 38316895; PMCID: PMC10844250.
Miliku K, Moraes TJ, Subbarao P. Obesity and asthma: the egg, the chicken, or both? J Bras Pneumol. 2023 Jan 13;48(6):e20220441. doi: 10.36416/1806-3756/e20220441. PMID: 36651442; PMCID: PMC9747136.
Reyna ME,...Miliku K, Lefebvre DL, Simsons e, Azad MB, Chan-Yeung M, Becker AB, Mandhane PJ, Turvey SE, Hall GL, Moraes TJ, Sears MR, Subbarao P. Development of a Symptom-Based Tool for Screening of Children at High Risk of Preschool Asthma. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Oct 3;5(10):e2234714. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.34714. PMID: 36201211; PMCID: PMC9539714.
Winkler TW, Rasheed H, Teumer A, Gorski M, Rowan BX, Stanzick KJ, Thomas LF, Tin A, Hoppmann A, Chu AY, Tayo B, Thio CHL, Cusi D, Chai JF, Sieber KB, Horn K, Li M, Scholz M, Cocca M, Wuttke M, van der Most PJ, Yang Q, Ghasemi S, Nutile T, Li Y, Pontali G, Günther F, Dehghan A, Correa A, Parsa A, Feresin A, de Vries APJ, Zonderman AB, Smith AV, Oldehinkel AJ, De Grandi A, Rosenkranz AR, Franke A, Teren A, Metspalu A, Hicks AA, Morris AP, Tönjes A, Morgan A, Podgornaia AI, Peters A, Körner A, Mahajan A, Campbell A, Freedman BI, Spedicati B, Ponte B, Schöttker B, Brumpton B, Banas B, Krämer BK, Jung B, Åsvold BO, Smith BH, Ning B, Penninx BWJH, Vanderwerff BR, Psaty BM, Kammerer CM, Langefeld CD, Hayward C, Spracklen CN, Robinson-Cohen C, Hartman CA, Lindgren CM, Wang C, Sabanayagam C, Heng CK, Lanzani C, Khor CC, Cheng CY, Fuchsberger C, Gieger C, Shaffer CM, Schulz CA, Willer CJ, Chasman DI, Gudbjartsson DF, Ruggiero D, Toniolo D, Czamara D, Porteous DJ, Waterworth DM, Mascalzoni D, Mook-Kanamori DO, Reilly DF, Daw EW, Hofer E, Boerwinkle E, Salvi E, Bottinger EP, Tai ES, Catamo E, Rizzi F, Guo F, Rivadeneira F, Guilianini F, Sveinbjornsson G, Ehret G, Waeber G, Biino G, Girotto G, Pistis G, Nadkarni GN, Delgado GE, Montgomery GW, Snieder H, Campbell H, White HD, Gao H, Stringham HM, Schmidt H, Li H, Brenner H, Holm H, Kirsten H, Kramer H, Rudan I, Nolte IM, Tzoulaki I, Olafsson I, Martins J, Cook JP, Wilson JF, Halbritter J, Felix JF, Divers J, Kooner JS, Lee JJ, O'Connell J, Rotter JI, Liu J, Xu J, Thiery J, Ärnlöv J, Kuusisto J, Jakobsdottir J, Tremblay J, Chambers JC, Whitfield JB, Gaziano JM, Marten J, Coresh J, Jonas JB, Mychaleckyj JC, Christensen K, Eckardt KU, Mohlke KL, Endlich K, Dittrich K, Ryan KA, Rice KM, Taylor KD, Ho K, Nikus K, Matsuda K, Strauch K, Miliku K, Hveem K, Lind L, Wallentin L, Yerges-Armstrong LM, Raffield LM, Phillips LS, Launer LJ, Lyytikäinen LP, Lange LA, Citterio L, Klaric L, Ikram MA, Ising M, Kleber ME, Francescatto M, Concas MP, Ciullo M, Piratsu M, Orho-Melander M, Laakso M, Loeffler M, Perola M, de Borst MH, Gögele M, Bianca M, Lukas MA, Feitosa MF, Biggs ML, Wojczynski MK, Kavousi M, Kanai M, Akiyama M, Yasuda M, Nauck M, Waldenberger M, Chee ML, Chee ML, Boehnke M, Preuss MH, Stumvoll M, Province MA, Evans MK, O'Donoghue ML, Kubo M, Kähönen M, Kastarinen M, Nalls MA, Kuokkanen M, Ghanbari M, Bochud M, Josyula NS, Martin NG, Tan NYQ, Palmer ND, Pirastu N, Schupf N, Verweij N, Hutri-Kähönen N, Mononen N, Bansal N, Devuyst O, Melander O, Raitakari OT, Polasek O, Manunta P, Gasparini P, Mishra PP, Sulem P, Magnusson PKE, Elliott P, Ridker PM, Hamet P, Svensson PO, Joshi PK, Kovacs P, Pramstaller PP, Rossing P, Vollenweider P, van der Harst P, Dorajoo R, Sim RZH, Burkhardt R, Tao R, Noordam R, Mägi R, Schmidt R, de Mutsert R, Rueedi R, van Dam RM, Carroll RJ, Gansevoort RT, Loos RJF, Felicita SC, Sedaghat S, Padmanabhan S, Freitag-Wolf S, Pendergrass SA, Graham SE, Gordon SD, Hwang SJ, Kerr SM, Vaccargiu S, Patil SB, Hallan S, Bakker SJL, Lim SC, Lucae S, Vogelezang S, Bergmann S, Corre T, Ahluwalia TS, Lehtimäki T, Boutin TS, Meitinger T, Wong TY, Bergler T, Rabelink TJ, Esko T, Haller T, Thorsteinsdottir U, Völker U, Foo VHX, Salomaa V, Vitart V, Giedraitis V, Gudnason V, Jaddoe VWV, Huang W, Zhang W, Wei WB, Kiess W, März W, Koenig W, Lieb W, Gao X, Sim X, Wang YX, Friedlander Y, Tham YC, Kamatani Y, Okada Y, Milaneschi Y, Yu Z; Lifelines cohort study; DiscovEHR/MyCode study; VA Million Veteran Program, Stark KJ, Stefansson K, Böger CA, Hung AM, Kronenberg F, Köttgen A, Pattaro C, Heid IM. Differential and shared genetic effects on kidney function between diabetic and non-diabetic individuals. Commun Biol. 2022 Jun 13;5(1):580. doi: 10.1038/s42003-022-03448-z. PMID: 35697829; PMCID: PMC9192715.
Reyna ME, Petersen C, Dai DLY, Dai R, Becker AB, Azad MB, Miliku K, Lefebvre DL, Moraes TJ, Mandhane PJ, Boutin RCT, Finlay BB, Simons E, Kozyrskyj AL, Lou W, Turvey SE, Subbarao P. Longitudinal body mass index trajectories at preschool age: children with rapid growth have differential composition of the gut microbiota in the first year of life. Int J Obes (Lond). 2022 Apr 15. doi: 10.1038/s41366-022-01117-z. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35428865.
Bansal A, Abruzzese GA, Hewawasam E, Hasebe K, Hamada H, Hoodbhoy Z, Diounou H, Ibáñez CA, Miranda RA, Golden TN, Miliku K, Isasi CR. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on research and careers of early career researchers: a DOHaD perspective. J Dev Orig Health Dis. 2022 Mar 4:1-6. doi: 10.1017/S2040174422000071. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35241213.
Dai R, Miliku K, Gaddipati S, Choi J, Ambalavanan A, Tran MM, Reyna M, Sbihi H, Lou W, Parvulescu P, Lefebvre DL, Becker AB, Azad MB, Mandhane PJ, Turvey SE, Duan Q, Moraes TJ, Sears MR, Subbarao P. Wheeze trajectories: Determinants and outcomes in the CHILD Cohort Study. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2021 Dec 30:S0091-6749(21)02747-0. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2021.10.039. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34974064.
Miliku K, Moraes TJ, Becker AB, Mandhane PJ, Sears MR, Turvey SE, Subbarao P, Azad MB. Breastfeeding in the First Days of Life Is Associated With Lower Blood Pressure at 3 Years of Age. J Am Heart Assoc. 2021 Aug 3;10(15):e019067. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.120.019067. Epub 2021 Jul 21. PMID: 34284597; PMCID: PMC8475685.
Miliku K, Richelle J, Becker AB, Simons E, Moraes TJ, Stuart TE, Mandhane PJ, Sears MR, Subbarao P, Field CJ, Azad MB. Sex-specific associations of human milk long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and infant allergic conditions. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2021 Aug;32(6):1173-1182. doi: 10.1111/pai.13500. Epub 2021 Mar 31. PMID: 33711184.
Reyes SM, Miliku K, Chan D, Brockway M, Turner S, Kearns KA, Raimondi C, Saleem A, Kelly LE, Nickel NC, Azad MB. Messaging and methodological considerations when researching breastfeeding and obesity. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2021 Oct;75(10):1523-1525. doi: 10.1038/s41430-021-00867-9. Epub 2021 Jan 29. PMID: 33514868.
Muthumuni D, Miliku K, Wade KH, Timpson NJ, Azad MB. Enhanced Protection Against Diarrhea Among Breastfed Infants of Nonsecretor Mothers. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2021 Mar 1;40(3):260-263. doi: 10.1097/INF.0000000000003014. PMID: 33315747.
Vermeulen MJ, Gaillard R, Miliku K, Reiss I, Steegers EAP, Jaddoe V, Felix J. Influence of genetic variants for birth weight on fetal growth and placental haemodynamics. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2020 Jul;105(4):393-398. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2019-317044. Epub 2019 Oct 30. PMID: 31666310.
Miliku K, Duan QL, Moraes TJ, Becker AB, Mandhane PJ, Turvey SE, Lefebvre DL, Sears MR, Subbarao P, Field CJ, Azad MB. Human milk fatty acid composition is associated with dietary, genetic, sociodemographic, and environmental factors in the CHILD Cohort Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2019 Dec 1;110(6):1370-1383. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz229. PMID: 31589250; PMCID: PMC6885479.