Williams Lab

Kidney stones affect a large number of Americans; about 12 percent of people have at least one stone in their lifetime, and half of these people will have more than one stone. Stones are rarely life-threatening, but they cause intense pain and often require surgical procedures to be removed. The causes of kidney stones are not fully understood, but it is obvious that the causes are many, and thus the treatments for stones will also be diverse. The Williams’ lab, led by James C. Williams, Jr., PhD, is learning why kidney stones form and what the bioeffects are of kidney stone removal when using different treatment modalities.

Research Funding

PO1-DK-43881, Innovative Strategies for Improved Outcomes in Nephrolithiasis
U54-DK-100227, Mayo Clinic O-Brien Research Center
PO1-DK-156788, Pathogenesis of Calcium Nephrolithiasis

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Recent Publications

  • 2016

    Borofsky, M.R., J.E. Paonessa, A.P. Evan, J.C. Williams, F.L. Coe, E.M. Worcester, and J.E. Lingeman. A proposed grading system to standardize the description of renal papillary appearance at the time of endoscopy in patients with nephrolithiasis. J Endourol 30:122-127, 2016. [PMC4744462]

    Ibrahim, E.-S.H., J.G. Cernigliaro, R.A. Pooley, M.D. Bridges, J.G. Giesbrandt, J.C. Williams, and W. E. Haley. Detection of different kidney stone types: an ex vivo comparison of ultrashort echo time MRI to reference standard CT. Clin Imaging 40(1): 90-95, 2016.

    Witzmann, F.A., A.P. Evan, F.L. Coe, E.M. Worcester, J.E. Lingeman, and J.C. Williams. Label-free quantitative proteomic analysis of human kidney stone matrix composition. Proteome Science 14:4, 2016. [PMC4769560]

    Connors, B.A., A.P. Evan, R.K. Handa, P.M. Blomgren, C.D. Johnson, Z. Liu and J.E. Lingeman. Using 300 pretreatment shock waves in a voltage ramping protocol can significantly reduce tissue injury during extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. J Endourol 30(9):1004-1008, 2016. [PMC5031095]

    Harrogate, S.R., L.M.S. Yick, J.C. Williams, R.O. Cleveland, and B.W. Turney. Quantification of the range of motion of kidney and ureteric stones during shockwave lithotripsy in conscious patients. J Endourol 30:406-410, 2016.

  • 2015
    Evan, A.P., E.M. Worcester, B.A. Connors, R.K. Handa, J.E. Lingeman and F.L. Coe. Mechanism by which shock wave lithotripsy can promote formation of human calcium phosphate stones. Am J Physiol 308(8)F938-F949, 2015. [PMC4398833]

    Williams, J.C., J.E. Lingeman, F. Coe, E. Worcester, and A.P. Evan. Micro-CT imaging of Randall’s plaques. Urolithiasis 43(suppl 1):13-17, 2015. [PMC4285664; NIHMS619482]

    Evan, A.P., E.M. Worcester, F.L. Coe, J.C. Williams, and J.E. Lingeman. Mechanisms of human kidney stone formation. Urolithiasis 43(suppl 1):19-32, 2015. [PMC4285570]

    Bhojani, N., J.A. Mandeville, T.A. Hameed, T.M. Soergel, J.A. McAteer, J.C. Williams, A.E. Krambeck, and J.E. Lingeman. Lithotripter outcomes in a community practice setting: Comparison of the Lithogold LG-380 and Storz Modulith SLX. J Urol 193:875-879, 2015. [PMC4412606]

     Evan, A.P., E.M. Worcester, J.C. Williams, A.J. Sommer, J.E. Lingeman, C. Phillips, and F.L. Coe. Biopsy proven medullary sponge kidney: Clinical findings, histopathology, and role of osteogenesis in stone and plaque formation. Anat Rec 298(5):865-77, 2015. [PMC4405475]

    Ribeiro, T.R., F.W.G. Costa, E.C.S. Soares, J.C. Williams, and C.S.R. Fonteles. Enamel and dentin mineralization in familial hypophosphatemic rickets: A micro-computed tomography study. Dentomaxillofacial Radiol 44(5):20140347, 2015. [PMC4628496]

    Williams, J.C. Re: Stone size limits the use of Hounsfield units for prediction of calcium oxalate stone composition. (letter) Urology 85(4):965, 2015.

    Ibrahim, E.-S.H., J.G. Cernigliaro, R.A. Pooley, J.C. Williams, and W. Haley. Motion artifacts in kidney stone imaging using single-source and dual-source dual-energy CT scanners. A phantom study. Abdominal Imaging 40(8):3161-3167, 2015.

    Williams, J.C. Invited commentary on ‘ High prevalence of opaline silica in urinary stones from Burkina Faso,’ Urology 86:1095-1096, 2015.

  • 2014
    Lieske, J.C., A. Rule, A.E. Krambeck, J.C. Williams, E. Bergstalh, R. Mehta, and T. Moyer. Stone composition as a function of age and sex. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol 9:2141-2146, 2014.

Faculty Research Team

James C. Williams, PhD

Professor of Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology

Additional Research Team Members

Other research team members include Sharon Bledsoe (technician) and Cynthia Johnson (technician).