Dr. Scales is a health services researcher and urologist by training at the Duke Clinical Research Institute.  Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Scales graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology and subsequently obtained a master’s degree in Chemistry from Harvard University. He completed medical school and residency training in urology at Duke University Medical Center.  He is an alumnus of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/VA Clinical Scholars program (UCLA ’11-’13). 

His research has focused on increasing understanding of quality of care and the public health implications of urologic diseases, with a particular emphasis on urinary stone disease.  Seminal work completed at UCLA has helped re-conceptualize urinary stone disease as a chronic metabolic condition punctuated by symptomatic ‘kidney stone attacks’, and is helping shift the focus to prevention, rather than treatment.  In addition, his comparative effectiveness investigations of procedural interventions for symptomatic stones has yielded important clinical and policy insights. He is the Principal Investigator for the Scientific Data Research Center for the NIDDK Urinary Stone Disease Research Network.