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William Woodruff Roberts MD

Associate Professor, Urology
Specialties: 
Urology
Clinical Interests:

Kidney, Ureter, and Bladder Stones. Shockwave lithotripsy, Uretereoscopy with laser lithotripsy, and Percutaneous nephrolithotomy.

Locations

U of M Urology

Taubman Center Floor 2 Reception C
1500 E Medical Center Dr SPC 5330
Ann Arbor
MI
48109
Phone:
734-936-7030
Fax:
734-647-9885

Credentials

Medical School or Training

  • Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1997

Residency

  • Johns Hopkins Hospital, Surgery General, MD, 1999

  • Johns Hopkins Hospital, Urology, MD, 2003

Professional Organizations

  • American Urological Association 

  • Endourological Society 

  • Engineering and Urology Society

  • International Society of Therapeutic Ultrasound 

Board Certification

  • Urology

Research

Quantification of bioeffects and understanding of mechanism of histotripsy (ultrasound induced mechanical/cavitational tissue ablation), a non-invasive ablative therapeutic technology.

Application of histotripsy as a therapeutic technology for benign and malignant urological conditions. 

• Benign prostatic hyperplasia
• Prostate cancer
• Renal masses     

Development and Characterization of Endoscopic Photoacoustic Tomography/Microscopy as a modality for virtual biopsy

Thermal spread from electrosurgical devices and development of new generation electrosurgical devices and techniques that minimize thermal spread to adjacent tissues. 

Biography

Dr. William W. Roberts is an Associate Professor of Urology and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan. He earned a B.S. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992, an M.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1997, and pursued urology training at the Brady Urological Institute at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 2004, he joined the faculty at the University of Michigan. His clinical practice is focused on endourology and stone disease.

Dr. Roberts’ research interests include the exploration and translation of histotripsy, a noninvasive, nonthermal, focused ultrasound technology for tissue homogenization that was developed at the University of Michigan. He maintains strong collaborations with colleagues in the Department of Biomedical Engineering to support these efforts. This group was recently awarded the Kennedy Team Excellence Award from the College of Engineering.

Dr. Roberts has presented his work at numerous international, national, and regional meetings and has authored over 75 peer-reviewed publications. His research contributions have also been recognized in the form of grants and awards from the National Institutes of Health, American Urological Association, The Engineering and Urology Society, Coulter Foundation, and the Kidney and Urology Foundation of America.