Our team of investigators work together to define the relationship between obesity and oxalate synthesis.

The Center for research on Obesity and Oxalate Kidney Stones (COOKS) was established in 2018 to evaluate the associations between obesity and kidney stone disease with a focus on oxalate. This Center is integrally connected to the Kidney Stone Research Center at UAB. At the Kidney Stone Research Center, experts are using mouse models to study the relationship between obesity and kidney stone disease. Working in collaboration with the Nutrition and Obesity Research Center, human subjects are being studied to describe the effects of measures of obesity on the urinary excretion of oxalate.

Kidney stone disease is a major health-related problem that afflicts nearly nine percent of the population at least once in their lifetime. Calcium oxalate is the major component in 70 – 80 percent of these stones. The amount of oxalate in urine is a major risk factor for the formation of these stones. The prevalence of both kidney stone disease and obesity has been increasing in tandem over the past three decades and several studies have verified a linkage between the two, showing that obese individuals are more susceptible to kidney stone disease. Over the past few decades substantial data has emerged that the prevalence of both obesity and stone disease is increasing within Alabama and adjoining States.