Prof Koren is an Israeli-Canadian pediatrician  and a composer of Israeli popular music. After graduating in medicine in Israel, he pursued research in Toronto where he became an International expert in Pediatric Toxicology, Pharmacology and Membrane Biology.

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He focused mainly on understanding the complex interactions between drugs and the developing fetus. Professor Koren established the only group worldwide that studies brain development in children exposed in utero to drugs. He tests IQ, language, attention and behavior in children exposed during pregnancy to a large selection of drugs.

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In 1985, Prof Koren founded and directed until 2015The Hospital for Sick Children's Motherisk Program in Toronto.

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He is the founder of the FACE (Fetal Alcohol Canadian Expertise) Network[25] and founding editor of the peer-reviewed Journal of FAS International (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome).

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Among his many achievements and awards, Prof Koren was nominated as: 

• Senior Scientist of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) 

• Chairperson of the Steering Committee Obstetric-Fetal Pharmacology Research Unit Network US  of National Institutes of Health (NIH)

• Course Director of the Annual Summer Institute in Maternal-Fetal Pharmacology, a collaboration between the National Institutes of Health and Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

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Since 1986, Koren has trained physicians from over 30 countries, and over 80 graduate students in pharmacology, making his program the largest worldwide.

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Author of 1750 peer review papers and 15 medical books, mostly in the area drug safety, with focus on pregnancy and children. A professor in several Israeli and Canadian universities. All this information has led to major changes in the methods of counseling pregnant women, worldwide.