Assistant Professor Dr. Kyle Wood was recently awarded a K08 grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

The K08 grant is a 5 year NIH mentored clinical scientist research career development award titled “Obesity ad Endogenous Oxalate Synthesis”. There has been increasing prevalence in both kidney stone disease and obesity throughout the United States, especially in the Southeast, and this grant will evaluate the role of oxalate, a main component of the most common type of kidney stone.

The Department of Urology's Kidney Stone Research Laboratory has demonstrated that with increasing BMI, there is an increase in the body’s creation of oxalate. Understanding these associations and mechanisms may lead to future therapies.

Dr. Wood's mentors and collaborators include Barbara Gower, PhD; Ross Holmes, PhD; Dean Assimos, MD; Jennifer Pollock, PhD; Robinna Lorenz, MD, PhD; Sunil Sudarshan, MD; and John Knight, PhD. All are distinguished faculty at UAB.