My Locations
About Me
My practice in pediatric urologist focuses on treating children with congenital defects and illnesses that involved the kidney, bladder and genitalia. As a father, I understand that it can be quite scary when a child is sick or born with problems. Therefore, it is my goal to serve both the child and the parents to provide a reliable partner who can be counted on for clear information and help. Children receive the best care possible when their doctor and parents form a knowledgeable team that works together. I offer considerable medical expertise but rely on parents who are the "world's experts" regarding their own individual child. While nobody wants their child to need a medical/surgical specialist, I find that when we all work for the interest of the patient, we obtain the best results and sometimes even have fun doing it. In addition to my medical practice, I run an NIH funded laboratory that is dedicated to solving urinary problems in children. My background as a basic scientist allows me to insure that my patients are always receiving the most modern and effective treatment available. Often, my patients and their families inspire new ideas for how we treat problems now and in the future!
- Professor of Urology, Urology 2023
Call for an Appointment
Areas of Expertise
Ratings and Reviews
The ratings and reviews are based on patient responses to the overall provider rating question from the survey. The question reads: “Using any number from 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst provider possible and 10 is the best provider possible, what number would you use to rate this provider?” Responses are converted to a 5-point rating system and applied consistently to all providers. Learn more about our survey process. Patients who see some types of providers receive a different version of the patient satisfaction survey. Those results are not available on DukeHealth.org.
Training and Education
In the News
Loading
Loading
Clinical Focus and Research
Urinary problems are often caused when the bladder becomes inflamed from a variety of causes, including infection (UTI), spinal cord defects or injury, diabetes, or obstruction. My NIH funded laboratory studies how the innate immune system recognizes these challenges and responds by creating a state of inflammation. We hope that our understanding of this process will allow us develop treatments that help our patients in the future.
- Duke KURe Program awarded by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases 2013 - 2028
- Hughes, Francis M., Hayden M. Hill, Case M. Wood, Andrew T. Edmondson, Aliya Dumas, Wen-Chi Foo, James M. Oelsen, Goran Rac, and J Todd Purves. “The NLRP3 Inflammasome Mediates Inflammation Produced by Bladder Outlet Obstruction.” J Urol 195, no. 5 (May 2016): 1598–1605. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2015.12.068.
- Hughes, Francis M., David P. Turner, and J. Todd Purves. “The potential repertoire of the innate immune system in the bladder: expression of pattern recognition receptors in the rat bladder and a rat urothelial cell line (MYP3 cells).” Int Urol Nephrol 47, no. 12 (December 2015): 1953–64. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11255-015-1126-6.
- Seymour, Keri A., Madison Strain, Allison Ashley-Koch, Michael J. Muehlbauer, Olga R. Ilkayeva, Tabitha K. George, Demitrius Hill, et al. “Acute perioperative alterations in metabolism: A pilot study using mass spectrometry-based metabolomics.” Surgery 180 (April 2025): 109055. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surg.2024.109055.
- Allkanjari, A., S. P. Campbell, C. J. Kim, and J. T. Purves. “Regression.” In Translational Urology: Handbook for Designing and Conducting Clinical and Translational Research, 105–8, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-90186-4.00079-1.
- Purves, J. T. “Intravesical Drug Therapy.” In Handbook of Neurourology: Theory and Practice, Second Edition, 385–88, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1659-7_30.
- Purves, J. T., C. Konstantinidis, and J. C. Lloyd. “Intermittent Catheterization (IC).” In Handbook of Neurourology: Theory and Practice, Second Edition, 357–65, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1659-7_29.
- Fairchild, Rebecca J., Leonid I. Aksenov, Rohit Tejwani, Taylor Hughes, Ashley W. Johnston, J Todd Purves, John S. Wiener, and Jonathan C. Routh. “Single-port hidden incision endoscopic (HIdES) pediatric nephrectomy via pfannenstiel incision.” In J Pediatr Urol, 19:339–41, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpurol.2023.01.012.
- Hughes, Francis, Shelby Harper, Armand Allkanjari, Brent Nose, Huixia Jin, and J Todd Purves. “THE ENDOGENOUS ANTI-INFLAMMATORY AGENT ANNEX-A1 INHIBITS ATP-INDUCED NLRP3 ACTIVATION IN VITRO AND NORMALIZES MOST BLADDER FUNCTIONS DURING BLADDER OUTLET OBSTRUCTION OR AFTER DE-OBSTRUCTION.” In NEUROUROLOGY AND URODYNAMICS, 40:S7–8, 2021.
- Nose, B., S. Harper, F. Hughes, and J. Purves. “THE ENDOGENOUS ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ANNEXIN A1 AUGMENTS RECOVERY FOLLOWING BLADDER OUTLET DEOBSTRUCTION.” In NEUROUROLOGY AND URODYNAMICS, 39:S355–56, 2020.
Insurance Accepted
Duke Health contracts with most major health insurance carriers and transplant networks, including the ones listed below.
-
Aetna
- Aetna Choice POS, Aetna Choice POS II
- Aetna Elect Choice HMO, Aetna Open Access Elect Choice
- Aetna Health Network Only, Aetna Health Network Option
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna Limited Benefit Insurance PPO
- Aetna Managed Choice POS
- Aetna Medicare Assure Plan (HMO D-SNP)
- Aetna Medicare Eagle Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Essential Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Value Plan (HMO)
- Aetna Open Access HMO, Open Access Aetna Select, Aetna Open Access Managed Choice
- Aetna Open Choice PPO
- Aetna PCP Coordinated POS Plan
- Aetna Quality Point of Service (QPOS)
- Aetna Select HMO
- Aetna Traditional Choice
- Aetna Voluntary Indemnity Group Plan
- Aetna Whole Health – Duke WakeMed WKCC
- Aetna/CVS Health
-
Ambetter
- Ambetter of North Carolina
-
Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
- Blue Advantage
- Blue Medicare (HMO, PPO)*
- Blue Options (123, PPO, HSA)
- Blue Select
- NC State Employees Health Plan
-
*Duke HomeCare and Hospice does not participate in the plan.
-
Cigna
- Cigna Behavioral Health (*Limited eligibility)
- Cigna Choice Plus
- Cigna Connect Individual Family Plan
- Cigna Open Access
- Cigna Open Access Plus
-
*Please call Cigna Behavioral Heath to see if the provider is participating in your plan.
-
Duke Group Plans
- Duke Basic
- Duke Select
-
Experience Health
- Experience Health Medicare Advantage (HMO) Plan
- Gateway Health Alliance
- Healthgram
-
Humana
- Humana Choice (PPO)
- Humana Choice - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana ChoiceCare - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana Gold Choice - Medicare Advantage (PFFS)
- Humana Gold Plus - Medicare Advantage (HMO)
- Humana Medicare Advantage Group Plan - NC State Retirees
- MedCost
-
Medicare
- First Medicare Direct
- Medicare Part A
- Medicare Part B
-
NC Medicaid
- AmeriHealth Caritas North Carolina
- Carolina Complete Health
- Healthy Blue
- NC Medicaid Direct
- WellCare of North Carolina
-
TRICARE
- TRICARE Prime
- TRICARE Prime Remote
- TRICARE Select
-
United Healthcare
- AARP Medicare Advantage Plan 2 (HMO-POS)
- AARP Medicare Complete (HMO, PPO)*
- AARP Medicare Complete Essential (HMO)*
- All Savers Alternate Funding
- All Savers Fully Insured
- United Healthcare (HMO, PPO, POS)**
- United Healthcare Charter/Charter Balance/Charter Plus
- United Healthcare Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Core/Core Essential
- United Healthcare Navigate/Navigate Plus/Navigate Balanced
- United Healthcare Option PPO
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Options PPO
- United Healthcare Select/Select Plus
- United Healthcare Shared Services - Harvard Pilgrim/UHC Options PPO Network
- United Medical Resources (UMR)
-
*Duke HomeCare and Hospice and mental health providers do not participate with the plan.
-
**Duke Health does not participate in UHC plans on the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Before scheduling your appointment, we strongly recommend you contact your insurance company to verify that the Duke Health location or provider you plan to visit is included in your network. Your insurance company will also be able to inform you of any co-payments, co–insurances, or deductibles that will be your responsibility. If you proceed in scheduling an appointment and your health insurance benefits do not participate with Duke, your out of pocket liability may be higher. We will contact you regarding your coverage and patient liability. If you are uninsured, learn more about our financial assistance policy.